Niantic Spatial Denies Pokémon Go Data Is Being Shared With A Drone Company

Pokémon Go’s AR scans have been used to help build AI-powered map models, a practice that players had to opt into but that left some users uneasy. That unease deepened when Niantic Spatial—set up after developer Niantic’s acquisition by Scopely—entered an agreement with Vantor, a spatial intelligence firm that says it can “deliver a comprehensive positioning solution that will enable air and ground platforms to navigate and coordinate precisely in GPS-denied environments.” Reports cited by DroneXL and coverage in Trouw and Volkskrant suggested a U.S.

defense contractor could put a navigation model, trained with billions of player scans, into drones and other military robots. Niantic Spatial pushed back, issuing two statements saying Pokémon Go data is not part of its agreement with Vantor and asserting that Pokémon Go’s data has not been shared with Niantic Spatial since the game moved to Scopely.

“Now as part of Scopely, Pokémon GO data is not shared with Niantic Spatial,” the company said.

United States

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