AI outperforms humans in gaming: Altera receives investment from Eric Schmidt

Intelligent gaming robots (AI) are coming and Altera, a new startup, is entering the game to build this new generation of AI.

Photo source: Altera

altera , the startup, just announced it has raised $9 million in a seed funding round. This capital call round exceeded registration and was co-led by two reputable investment funds: First Spark Ventures (investment fund specializing in deep technology founded by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt) and Patron (seed investment fund co-founded by former Riot Games employees).

This new investment is used by Altera to recruit additional personnel for scientific, engineering and team member positions to support product development and growth. Previously, in January this year, Altera raised $2 million in seed money from a16z SPEEDRUN and other investors.

The first wave of AI brought chatbots to users. Then, the AI ​​application “copilot” is born to assist humans in solving complex queries. Now we are moving to the next stage: AI agents. The goal is to develop AI capable of creating more sophisticated, human-like entities that can interact and respond like real humans.

Recently, artificial intelligence (AI) has been applied to video games, especially in games that allow players to be creative like Minecraft. A typical project is Voyager, developed based on the Minedojo platform. Voyager focuses on creating and training AI agents for Minecraft, opening up exciting possibilities for the future of the game. Altera is also an AI project for Minecraft that many people are interested in.

The startup is making a splash with its first product: an artificial intelligence (AI) that can play Minecraft with you “like a friend.” Currently, you can sign up for the waiting list to experience this feature. However, their ambitions do not stop there. “We are building virtual worlds with multiple AI agents, opening up huge potential in entertainment, market research and more,” they share on the website. So what will the future be like? Is this the first step towards the dream of robots accompanying humans?

Altera aims to encourage cooperation between pilots and co-pilots, turning them into true colleagues. At the same time, Altera is also opening up the potential for creating digital humans with physical forms, bringing the virtual world closer to reality.

Led by Captain Robert Yang, a neuroscientist and former assistant professor at MIT, Altera was born in December 2023 with an audacious goal: to create intellectual “AI friends” social-emotional, capable of interacting and making independent decisions in the game world.

Altera co-founders – Photo source: Altera

Sharing the same direction as Yang, Altera’s three other co-founders – Andrew Ahn, Nico Christie and Shuying Luo – together left the MIT applied research laboratory to focus all their efforts on this ambitious goal.

With a passion for neuroscience, Dr. Yang dedicated his life to pursuing the goal of building a “digital human”, opening a new era for the potential of artificial intelligence (AI). However, he affirmed that this path does not come from the intention of being hostile or replacing humans, but is aimed at creating AI agents that support and improve life for humanity.

Yang and Altera’s focus is on the consumer. Different from the current general trend of AI towards building models that serve businesses, accelerating or replacing humans in the working environment. (For example, OpenAI with ChatGPT has created a global reputation, but in essence, they are still trying to build a business model based on providing APIs).

He shared that the potential for applying agent technology in the gaming industry is huge. This approach offers many benefits, including the ability to iterate quickly, collect data effectively, and get products into users’ hands quickly. In particular, it is suitable for gaming environments, where user behavior is always changing and needs to be constantly updated.

Thanks to the Voyager GPT-4 application, automated workers developed by Altera possess the ability to play Minecraft just like humans. They can perform a variety of tasks such as building, manufacturing, farming, trading, mining minerals, fighting, equipping items, chatting and moving in the virtual world.

Altera’s goal is to be a companion, not an assistant who follows the player’s orders. Different from traditional NPCs (non-player characters), Altera possesses the ability to make her own decisions, which can bring interesting or challenging experiences to the player, depending on the player’s style. everyone’s play.

In the introductory video, Yang puts artificial intelligence (AI) through tough challenges, including forcing it to attack others. At first, AI appeared hesitant, expressing his desire to resolve the conflict peacefully: “I don’t want trouble, we just need to find a peaceful solution? Fighting won’t solve anything.”

(1/5) Altera Agents can make diamond tools from scratch in Minecraft now! Compared to the famous Voyager method, our Agents are 10-20X cheaper, more reliable, while remaining completely autonomous and Minecraft-agnostic. And you can play with them today, join our waitlist! pic.twitter.com/lQB6Kq3vKR

— Robert Yang (@GuangyuRobert) March 15, 2024

However, when Yang provoked him and ordered other players to attack, the AI ​​was forced to defend itself. It protests and destroys Yang’s Minecraft character, declaring, “I’ll make sure they regret messing with me.”

Although the ending is a bit gloomy, the gameplay still retains the same fun and bustling style as regular gatherings with friends, where people tease and compete with each other.

Altera is testing a new model with 750 Minecraft players and is expected to officially launch later this summer. This model will be available for free through Altera’s desktop application, however will also come with paid features.

Minecraft marks just the beginning for Altera. Their ambition is to bring this artificial intelligence into many other video games and digital experiences. As Yang explains, “Altera’s AI agents are code-based, so they can play any game without too much tweaking.” For example, it can play Stardew Valley with ease. Altera is also collaborating with game developers by integrating this technology into game engine SDKs.

In addition to the latest investment from First Spark and Patron, Altera is also bolstered by a long list of reputable investors, affirming its belief in the company’s enormous potential. Prominent among them are names such as Alumni Ventures, a16z SPEEDRUN, Benchmark partner Mitch Lasky, Duolingo Business Director Bob Meese, Vamos Ventures, Valorant co-founder Stephen Lim and many other prestigious investors.

“AI has the potential to be a companion in all aspects of life. However, modern AI lacks empathy, embodiment, and personal goals, making it difficult to build long-term relationships with humans.” Realizing this, Robert and the Altera team applied their in-depth knowledge of computational neuroscience and LLM to develop new, unique AI assistants that can work on multiple platforms. First Spark Ventures is excited to join Altera on this journey.”