Niantic Spatial, spun out from Pokémon Go developer Niantic in May 2025, used billions of real-world images captured by millions of players to develop AI navigation technologies for delivery robots and possibly military drones. The company trained its model on 30 billion images mostly from urban locations that game players were incentivized to visit, according to MIT Technology Review. Before the spin-out, Niantic sold its licensed games including Pokémon Go to Saudi-backed video game publisher Scopely, while separately announcing plans to use scans from players and its Scaniverse app to build a large geospatial model—a 3D model of the physical world trained on geolocated images.
Niantic Spatial Spins Out After Pokémon Go Sale
Niantic Spatial became a standalone company in May 2025 after Niantic sold its licensed games such as Pokémon Go to Scopely. Before that deal, Niantic publicly announced plans to use scans from millions of Pokémon Go players along with data captured by users of the company's Scaniverse app to train and develop a large geospatial model. The images often captured the same location from many different angles under different lighting and weather conditions, and came with valuable metadata showing the location and orientation of user phones when they were capturing such images.
30 Billion Images Train Navigation AI Models
After spinning out as a standalone company, Niantic Spatial trained its model on 30 billion images mostly clustered around urban environment locations that game players were incentivized to visit, according to MIT Technology Review. "Ground scans were one component to help train Niantic Spatial's real-world foundation models—AI systems that learn to recognize and interpret physical spaces," a Niantic Spatial spokesperson told Ars. "The models are the product of that training, not a copy of or a means of accessing the underlying scans, which were of public points of interest such as statues and fountains."
Company Confirms Optional Scans Since 2019
Ground scans "were an entirely optional feature in games, where users created a short video of a public location," the Niantic Spatial spokesperson said. "We've been transparent about the fact that the scans would improve our technology platform since 2019 in our privacy policy and public announcements." The scans incentivized gamers to capture short smartphone videos of physical neighborhoods and landmarks through the augmented reality mobile game.
FAQ
When did Niantic Spatial spin out from Niantic?
Niantic Spatial spun out from Pokémon Go developer Niantic in May 2025, after Niantic separately sold its licensed games including Pokémon Go to Saudi-backed video game publisher Scopely.
How many images did Niantic Spatial use to train its AI models?
Niantic Spatial trained its model on 30 billion images mostly clustered around urban environment locations that game players were incentivized to visit, according to MIT Technology Review. The images often captured the same location from many different angles under different lighting and weather conditions.
What applications does Niantic Spatial's technology support?
The AI navigation technologies developed by Niantic Spatial are used for delivery robots and possibly military drones. A company spokesperson stated that ground scans helped train real-world foundation models—AI systems that learn to recognize and interpret physical spaces.
