China warns popular phone games may provide map data to train foreign military AI models

China's Ministry of State Security warned that a popular augmented reality game may be providing geospatial data to train foreign military AI models. The ministry cited reports that an AI company linked to the game harvested user scans, potentially aiding a foreign defense contractor. The warning highlights growing concerns over the militarization of civilian data.

China warns popular phone games may provide map data to train foreign military AI models Ministry urges gamers to be wary of app ‘check-in locations’ that seem abnormally clustered around classified or restricted facilities Carol Yang /author/carol-yang in Beijing anti-espionage agency https://www.scmp.com/topics/espionage?module=inline&pgtype=article on Monday warned gamers https://www.scmp.com/topics/video-gaming?module=inline&pgtype=article that a company with overseas defence ties may be obtaining geospatial data via an augmented reality game. The warning quoted media reports about “the militarisation of civilian data” that said billions of environmental scans from a popular mobile phone game were being used to train AI models with potential battlefield applications. Ministry of State Security MSS https://www.scmp.com/topics/ministry-state-security?module=inline&pgtype=article cited reports that said an AI company linked to a prominent augmented reality AR game had harvested user geospatial scans, which could be used to train spatial AI models and potentially be deployed for military purposes by the firm which had partnered with a foreign defence contractor. “The report has fuelled global concern over the ‘militarisation of civilian data’ and served as a warning of the growing data security challenges in the digital intelligence era,” the ministry said. , the AR mobile hit game developed and published by United States’ firm Niantic in partnership with Japanese firms Nintendo and The Pokemon Company. https://www.scmp.com/topics/pokemon-go?module=inline&pgtype=article Pokemon Go The game encouraged players to scan and upload recordings of real-world locations through their devices in exchange for in-game rewards. Niantic Spatial – a spin-off company from Niantic – owns nearly 30 billion scans from the game and used these data in training a 3D model that allows for very precise navigation when the GPS signal drops, Dutch media outlet Trouw reported this month.