Sony AI unveiled Gran Turismo Sophy, a racing agent trained with deep reinforcement learning to compete against leading human players in Gran Turismo Sport. The research combined vehicle control, overtaking tactics and racing etiquette, including learning to avoid penalties and collisions. Sony AI developed the system with Polyphony Digital and Sony Interactive Entertainment, using large-scale training infrastructure to improve its behaviour through repeated simulated races.
The Nature research followed competitions against champion drivers in the Gran Turismo Sport simulation in 2021. Zurich-based Sony AI researcher Florian Fuchs worked on developing and training Sophy as part of the international team. The February announcement presented the research achievement, covering the agent's training method and competitive performance.
