Artificial Agency Launches Out of Stealth with $16M (USD) in Funding to Bring Generative Behavior to Gaming
July 18 2024 - 6:53AM
Today, Artificial Agency, an AI startup pioneering generative
behavior for gaming, emerged from stealth and announced $16M (USD)
in funding from Radical Ventures, Toyota Ventures, Flying Fish,
Kaya, BDC Deep Tech, TIRTA Ventures, and others. The funding will
be used to accelerate the development of the company’s flagship
product — an AI-powered behavior engine that enables game
developers to embed runtime decision-making seamlessly into any
aspect of a game, delivering a gaming experience that feels truly
alive.
“AI has enormous potential to revolutionize gaming, yet, to
date, the focus has predominantly been on very limited human-to-AI
conversations,” said Brian Tanner, co-founder and CEO of Artificial
Agency. “The real opportunity lies in unleashing generative
behavior into whole worlds and giving developers the tools to
transform both characters as well as other decision-making systems
into individualized AI agents with perceptions, actions,
personalities, and goals. This paves the way for entirely new
categories of games to be created that are more creative, more
expressive, and deeply individualized.”
Artificial Agency's AI-powered behavior engine makes it easy for
game developers to integrate generative AI into all kinds of game
mechanics, driving engaging behavior in both moment-to-moment
interactions and the overarching game narrative. Developers can add
minor improvisation to scripted interactions, full improvisation
for emergent gameplay, create full artificial players, and even
high-level gamekeeper systems that control pacing, spawn encounters
and steer players towards overlooked game elements. The result is a
more immersive and entertaining experience that keeps players
engaged and reduces churn.
"We wanted to unlock creative superpowers for studios of all
sizes with our technology, allowing them to increase productivity
as well as make their wildest creative dreams a reality,” Mike
Johanson, co-founder of Artificial Agency said. "Our engine was
purpose-built to deliver on this promise — not only can it deploy
rapidly into existing workflows at any development stage, it is
also fully customizable and extensible to align with a designer’s
vision.”
The company, which has been operating in stealth mode for a
year, is developing the engine in close collaboration with several
notable AAA studios and expects it to be widely available for
studios in 2025.
“While there's been a lot of energy and focus on exploiting
immediate AI opportunities in game development, such as generating
art, dialogue, or 3D models, these have been incremental
improvements to the technology stack. We had been looking for a
team that could create a new category within gaming, and are
excited to partner with Brian, Alex, Mike, and Andrew to help them
fulfill their vision,” said Daniel Mulet of Radical Ventures, who
has joined the board. “Artificial Agency’s generative behavior
engine promises to create new opportunities for studios as they
reimagine the gaming experience.”
Based in Edmonton, Canada, a global hub of AI and gaming
innovation, Artificial Agency brings together world-class AI
researchers from Google Deepmind with engineers and game developers
from elite AAA studios, all committed to building the future of
gaming experiences.
“Artificial Agency is led by my former students and colleagues —
people I know well,” said Richard Sutton, Professor of Computer
Science at the University of Alberta and former Distinguished
Research Scientist at Google DeepMind. “They are the best in the
world at using reinforcement learning and foundation models to
create complex, life-like, and purposive agents.” Professor Sutton
along with Professor Michael Bowling (University of Alberta,
Department of Computing Science), both globally renowned pioneers
of reinforcement learning, are angel investors in Artificial
Agency.
“Alberta’s tech sector continues to grow by leaps and bounds,”
said Nate Glubish, Minister of Technology and Innovation. “The
investments we have made in the region have helped train and
recruit so many brilliant AI experts in Alberta and we're excited
to see the industry taking notice and building their operations
here. Companies like Artificial Agency are at the forefront of this
exciting progress and I’m looking forward to seeing what the team
at Artificial Agency will accomplish with this financing."
"Edmonton continues to be on the cutting edge of technological
development and innovation in the artificial intelligence sector,”
said Amarjeet Sohi, Mayor of Edmonton. “Artificial Agency is
another great entry into our technology ecosystem that is making a
splash around the world, and I look forward to seeing their
success!"
About Artificial AgencyArtificial Agency is an
AI company that is pioneering generative behavior for gaming. Its
groundbreaking AI-powered behavior engine integrates runtime
decision-making into game mechanics, delivering an experience that
feels truly alive. With top AI talent from Google DeepMind,
seasoned gaming veterans from elite AAA studios, and backing from
leading investors including Radical Ventures and Toyota Ventures,
Artificial Agency is poised to redefine the boundaries of gaming
and completely reimagine the player experience. To learn more,
visit artificial.agency
Media Contactpress@artificial.agency