At Dota 2’s The International event in Vancouver this week, teams of (human) pro gamers are taking on a band of bots in a best-of-three contest. On Wednesday night, the humans emerged victorious in the initial battle, although the lead switched hands several times during the game.
The AI bots were built by OpenAI, a non-profit company researching artificial intelligence that has been set up and sponsored by organizations such as Microsoft and Amazon Web Services, and individuals such as SpaceX founder Elon Musk and venture capitalist Peter Thiel. OpenAI’s mission aims for it to act “in the best interests of humanity throughout its development,” but it is fighting against humans in Dota 2 as a way to “capture the messiness and continuous nature of the real world.”
The first milestone on OpenAI’s quest for Dota 2 supremacy was to defeat top gamers in a one-on-one contest. That was achieved at last year’s The International, setting up the expanded challenge, and milestone No. 2, this year. If the bots can win the next two games and leave Vancouver victorious, that will lead to the third challenge: To take on and defeat the world’s top Dota 2 team.
OpenAI first ever to defeat world's best players in competitive eSports. Vastly more complex than traditional board games like chess & Go.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 12, 2017
In each this year, game the bots will face a team that has already been eliminated from The International. Wednesday’s contest was against Brazilian team paiN Gaming. The next game between the humans and bots will take place on Thursday night, with the final contest set for Friday.