Rockstar to driverless car manufacturers: Don't steal our stuff

Get the Full StoryDriverless cars that work are cool, but using another company's work without their permission maybe isn't.

Earlier this week, Bloomberg reported that manufacturers of driverless cars were using video game environments as a testing ground to help teach their cars how to drive themselves. One video game in particular became the go-to for the impressive work that went into its streets: Grand Theft Auto V.

Researchers connected to Intel Labs figured out a way to modify GTAV's engine and algorithms to set up a simulation that would allow companies to track car data on the streets of Los Santos.

The resources needed to test AI on self-driving cars in the real-world are extensive, but a video game environment allows for much easier use. It's not perfect — because, as accurate as the physics in a game can be, it's still not the real world — but it certainly helps move the process along at a faster rate. Researchers can study a car's response to obstacles and various scenarios incrementally, and make changes on the fly as needed. Rinse and repeat. You can't really do that in the real without without spending tons of hours on it. Read more...More about Grand Theft Auto, Video Games, Self Driving Cars, Autonomous Cars, and Entertainment

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