Pokémon Go Players Unknowingly Helped Train AI for Military Drones and Delivery Robots

Niantic Spatial, an AI company spun off from Pokémon Go developer Niantic in May 2025, used billions of real-world images captured by Pokémon Go players and Scaniverse users to train navigation technologies for delivery robots and potentially military drones. Niantic had earlier sold its licensed games, including Pokémon Go, to Saudi-backed publisher Scopely. A company spokesperson clarified that the ground scans were used to train AI foundation models that interpret physical spaces, not to retain or access the original images.