A bot created by the Elon Musk-backed nonprofit startup ‘OpenAI’ has defeated champion Danylo ‘Dendi’ Ishut in multiplayer online battle arena Defense of the Ancients 2 (Dota 2) in two back-to-back demonstration matches. Several practice matches were played with other top players over the weekend, including Syed ‘Suma1l’ Hassan and Artour ‘Arteezy’ Babaev.
Dota 2 is a complex, team-based game played by over 10 million people monthly. The game is continuous, has hidden information and good strategy and positioning win over raw mechanics. OpenAI uses Dota 2 as a test-bed for new AI technologies.
OpenAI describes it as “a step towards building AI systems which accomplish well-defined goals in messy, complicated situations involving real humans”.
“But Dota 2 has far more variables and possible board states than even Go, meaning decision-making is much more complex. The game also takes place in real time rather than discrete turns,” the report said.
The win came in the first tie of the five-match series being held in Seoul, South Korea. The tournament, “Google Deepmind Challenge match”.
