Google is training Gemini agents using 'Goat Simulator 3'

Google has developed an AI-powered agent that's playing video games, including Goat Simulator 3 — yes, a goat-based video game.

Google DeepMind created a Gemini-powered agent called SIMA 2 — "scalable instructable multiworld agent" — that's navigating the world of Goat Simulator 3, reported MIT Technology Review.

The AI agent is called SIMA 2 because, well, there was an original SIMA. We covered the original project at Mashable. The agent was designed to essentially serve as a video game companion — an AI-powered player that could accompany human players. (The ROG Xbox Ally X gaming handheld has a similar, Copilot-powered feature.) SIMA 2 is apparently an improved version of the original.

"Games have been a driving force behind agent research for quite a while," Joe Marino, a researcher at Google DeepMind, said this week, via MIT Technology Review.

The idea behind SIMA 2 is that the agent can learn and adapt in open-ended, complicated video games. A human player can also help direct the agent and improve its performance.