Google’s Gemini has beaten Pokémon Blue (with a little help)

Google’s AI Model Makes History by Beating a Classic Video Game

Google’s latest AI model, Gemini 2.5 Pro, has achieved a significant milestone by completing the iconic 29-year-old video game Pokémon Blue. The news was shared by Google CEO Sundar Pichai on X, celebrating the AI’s victory.

The achievement was showcased on the Gemini Plays Pokemon livestream, created by Joel Z, a 30-year-old software engineer who is not affiliated with Google. Despite this, Google executives, including Logan Kilpatrick, the product lead for Google AI Studio, have been closely following and supporting Gemini’s progress.

Logan Kilpatrick previously mentioned Gemini’s advancements in completing Pokémon and highlighted its impressive performance compared to other AI models. Pichai even joked about developing an “Artificial Pokémon Intelligence API” in response to Gemini’s success.

But why choose Pokémon as the game for Gemini to conquer? Earlier this year, Anthropic’s Claude AI models demonstrated significant progress in playing Pokémon Red, showcasing the extended thinking and agent training capabilities of AI models like Gemini. This classic GameBoy title from 1996 has proven to be a challenging yet rewarding task for AI systems.

Despite Gemini’s success in Pokémon Blue, Joel Z emphasized that comparing Gemini to other AI models like Claude is not straightforward. Each AI model has unique tools and receives different information, making direct comparisons challenging.

Both Gemini and Claude rely on agent harnesses to assist them in gameplay, providing additional information through game screenshots and guiding their decision-making process. These interventions enhance the AI’s reasoning abilities without giving specific hints or instructions.

Joel Z mentioned that Gemini Plays Pokémon is an ongoing project with continuous development and evolution, ensuring that the AI model continues to improve its gameplay abilities.

Joel Z’s interventions in Gemini Plays Pokémon aim to enhance the AI’s decision-making abilities and reasoning skills, ensuring a challenging yet fair gameplay experience. As Gemini continues to evolve, its capabilities in mastering classic video games like Pokémon Blue are expected to grow even further.