Pokemon Company Launches AI Competition to Build the Strongest TCG Player
The Pokemon Company has launched the Pokemon TCG AI Battle Challenge, inviting developers worldwide to build AI agents that play Standard format matches by analyzing board states and choosing optimal plays in real time. Organizers framed it as a test of how AI handles games with hidden information and randomized draws, unlike solved games such as Chess or Go.
The Kaggle ranking stage runs June through August 2026, with the top eight teams each receiving $30,000 and advancing to a live final in Japan in September, where first place earns an additional $50,000. It's run in partnership with HEROZ and the Matsuo Institute with support from Google and NVIDIA, and marks one of the first times Pokemon has publicly explored AI.
