How Pokémon GO players accidentally trained military drones

According to research published by the Dutch outlet Trouw, data generated by Pokémon GO players over the years may have contributed, without their knowledge, to the training of artificial intelligence systems capable of improving the navigation of drones and robots in GPS-free environments.

The game incorporated a 'scan' feature where users record videos of real places—streets, buildings, or parks—in exchange for rewards. According to the Dutch newspaper, nearly 30 billion of these environmental captures have been accumulated, made by hundreds of millions of players. All that information was managed through Niantic Spatial, which allegedly used it to build a 3D model of the physical world.

With this material, the company reportedly developed a vision-based navigation system (VPS, Visual Positioning System), capable of locating devices using visual references from the environment when GPS fails. This system helps drones and robots orient themselves with great precision even in challenging conditions.

A key aspect is that Niantic Spatial and the defense software company Vantor announced a collaboration in which the latter would implement this technology in drones and other autonomous military systems. Although Vantor has denied using Pokémon GO data directly, the report leaves that possibility open.

Jeroen van den Hoven, Professor of Ethics and Technology at TU Delft, cited by Trouw, argues that without the enormous amount of images and records provided by the players, the development of the system would have been much slower. According to his analysis, users may have indirectly contributed to military applications without suspecting it in the slightest.

For its part, Niantic Spatial claims that players accepted the terms of service and that the data is used ethically, although it does not detail which part of the system destined for Vantor depends on these contributions.

The report also mentions the collaboration with the delivery robot company Coco Robotics, which uses this system for the navigation of autonomous vehicles in urban environments, thus demonstrating its application in the civil sphere.