Libratus, the AI that beat the pros heads-up, is now going to be simulating war games for the US military.

The Pros playing vs Libratus in 2017

You may recall in 2017 the historic moment when Libratus, an Artifical Intelligence (AI) computer, beat a team of the world's best players heads-up.

While not great news for the game itself, as this writer pondered at the time, it was going to have a much bigger impact on society as a whole, because it was an example of a computer developing 'General Intelligence'. It was considered a landmark because, unlike chess, there are so many unknown variables in poker that it requires much more reflexive thinking.

That prediction seems to have come into fruition as this month Wired reported that the tech used to power Libratus is being used by the US military at the Pentagon.

From poker to war games

Tuomas Sandholm

They reported that a start-up founded by Tuomas Sandholm (the Carnegie Mellon Professor behind Libratus) has recieved $10 million from a Pentagon agency called the Defense Innovation Unit.

It is speculated that Libratus will be used to simulate 'war game' scenarios as part of the Pentagon's strategy planning.

Russia and China are also among the countries that have explored AI as part of their military strategy, with Russian Preident Vladimir Putin once saying AI "will become the ruler of the world."

Sandholm, who has a second AI startup that looks at commerical settings like electricty markets and video games, thinks AI will in fact make the world a safer place.

If you are interested in the science behind Libratus, Sandholm recently did a longform interview on the topic:

Are you worried about the impact of AI on the world (and poker)? Let us know in the comments: