Google Gemini AI is being trained by playing Pokemon – and it’s succeeding

A software engineer has programmed Google Gemini to play Pokemon Blue on Twitch, and hundreds of people are watching it play the game.

Since the original viewer-controlled TwitchPlaysPokemon channel, fans have continued to launch streams, allowing the community to play their favorite Pokemon game as a group.

The growth of generative AI bots since 2023 has turned these streams into fully automated gameplay, allowing users to sit back and watch while the AI plays the game. Anthropic programmed its chatbot, Claude, to play Pokemon Red back in February, and the game is still going two months later.

Now, yet another AI model is playing Pokemon on Twitch, as someone has programmed Google Gemini to play through Pokemon Blue.

Google Gemini is playing Pokemon Blue on Twitch

“With the release of Gemini Pro 2.5 Experimental, there’s been interest in testing how well it plays Pokemon,” the creator shared in his Twitch bio. “This stream showcases an early prototype of the model navigating the game. Expect occasional offline periods and potential full resets as the experiment progresses. A better stream UI is also in the works.”

The stream is set up to allow the AI to take screenshots of the game, send button-press commands, and retrieve game status data like player position, map details, and Pokemon party information. It then uses the screenshots to figure out what to do next and moves the character as needed.

The man behind Gemini Plays Pokemon also revealed that he’s using a graphics mod to make the gen 1 title look better than the original, but the actual gameplay has not been touched.

It wasn’t long until the stream caught the attention of Google’s head of AI products, who shared a link to the broadcast on his X account.

“Gemini 2.5 Pro is currently making a ton of progress live in finishing Pokémon, lots of fun to watch,” he said in the post.

Creators using AI on Twitch has continued to skyrocket in popularity over the years, with some people even making AI powered VTubers that have gone on to break the platform’s Hype Train record.