Skip to main content

Google’s AlphaGo Zero AI quickly masters ancient board game with no human help

Google shocked the world in 2016 when AlphaGo, an artificial intelligence program created specifically to play the ancient board game Go, defeated one of the game’s top competitors in a five-game match. Such a feat wasn’t predicted to occur for at least another decade, leaving tech types and laymen alike wondering just how intelligent AI has become.

A little over one year later, AlphaGo again competed in a high-profile match, this time against the world’s top Go player, a 19-year-old prodigy named Ke Jie. The machine shut the human out, three games to none. With these victories under its belt, Google announced in May that it would retire AlphaGo.

Recommended Videos

But Google’s AI group, DeepMind, has just unveiled a newer, shinier, smarter version of AlphaGo dubbed AlphaGo Zero, which has pushed beyond the capabilities of its predecessor by mastering the ancient board game without any help from humans. Equipped with just the rules of the game, AlphaGo Zero managed to learn Go from scratch, create its own knowledge along the way, and ultimately defeat its predecessor 100 games to zero.

Both the old and new AlphaGo learned through a process called reinforcement learning, which encourages good moves that are more likely to be rewarded with a win. However, the way DeepMind trained the systems differed, and that’s where AlphaGo Zero really shined.

To train the original AlphaGo, DeepMind researchers fed the system thousands of games that were played by amateur and professional human Go players. These games helped the system develop winning strategies and identify good and bad moves. AlphaGo Zero, on the other hand, only played by itself (albeit millions of time), making moves at random until it recognized strategies. The new system had no help from humans beyond its initial startup.

What’s truly astonishing about AlphaGo Zero’s self-schooling is that it went from chump to champ in just a few days. The system started off as a completely incompetent player. By the third day, after only playing against itself, the system was capable of defeating its predecessor. By day 40, DeepMind suggests the system became the greatest Go player ever.

Where the original AlphaGo was little more than an exceptionally talented board game player, the advances made by AlphaGo Zero — specifically it’s ability to teach itself from scratch — makes the system relevant to a wide range of real-world applications. The same principles that help AlphaGo Zero learn from just the rules could be applied to other rules-based task.

“For us, AlphaGo wasn’t just about winning the game of Go,” Demis Hassabis, CEO of DeepMind, told The Guardian. “It was also a big step for us towards building these general-purpose algorithms.”

DeepMind published a paper detailing the development of AlphaGo Zero in the journal Nature.

Dyllan Furness
Former Contributor
Dyllan Furness is a freelance writer from Florida. He covers strange science and emerging tech for Digital Trends, focusing…
Sebastian Stan lays out Bucky’s future after Thunderbolts
Sebastian Stan in Thunderbolts.

There are some spoilers ahead for the ending of Marvel's Thunderbolts. Stop reading now if you don't want to be spoiled.

Earlier this year, Captain America: Brave New World briefly introduced a new direction for James "Bucky" Barnes, a character Sebastian Stan has been playing since 2011 in Captain America: The First Avenger. In Brave New World, the former Winter Soldier apparently retired from being a reformed hero and went into politics by running for Congress. Thunderbolts reveals that Bucky won his election to the House of Representatives. But his stay in Congress was short.

Read more
Jeep Compass EV breaks cover—but will it come to the U.S.?
jeep compass ev us newjeepcompassfirsteditionhawaii  4

Jeep just pulled the wraps off the all-new Compass EV, and while it’s an exciting leap into the electric future, there's a catch—it might not make it to the U.S. anytime soon.
This is a brand new electric version of the Jeep Compass, and being built on Stellantis' STLA platform—the same architecture underpinning models like the Peugeot E-3008 and E-5008—it looks much slicker and packs a lot more inside than previous versions of the Compass.
Let’s start with what’s cool: the new Compass EV is packing up to 404 miles of range on a single charge, a 74 kWh battery, and fast-charging that gets you from 20% to 80% in about 30 minutes. Not bad for a compact SUV with Jeep's badge on the nose.
There are two versions: a front-wheel-drive model with 213 horsepower and a beefier all-wheel-drive version with 375 horsepower. That AWD setup isn’t just for looks—it can handle 20% inclines even without front traction, and comes with extra ground clearance and better off-road angles. In short, it’s still a Jeep.
The design's been refreshed too, and inside you’ll find the kind of tech and comfort you’d expect in a modern EV—sleek, smart, and ready for both city streets and dirt trails.
But here’s the thing: even though production starts soon in Italy, Jeep hasn’t said whether the Compass EV is coming to America. And the signs aren’t promising.
Plans to build it in Canada were recently put on hold, with production now delayed until at least early 2026. Some of that might have to do with possible U.S. tariffs on Canadian and Mexican vehicles—adding a layer of uncertainty to the whole rollout.
According to Kelley Blue Book, a Stellantis spokesperson confirmed that the company has “temporarily paused work on the next-generation Jeep Compass, including activities at” the Canadian plant that was originally meant to build the model. They added that Stellantis is “reassessing its product strategy in North America” to better match customer needs and demand for different powertrain options.
So while Europe and other markets are gearing up to get the Compass EV soon, American drivers might be left waiting—or miss out entirely.
That’s a shame, because on paper, this electric Jeep hits a lot of sweet spots. Let’s just hope it finds a way over here.

Read more
Charlie Cox singles out his least favorite Daredevil: Born Again episode
Charlie Cox in Daredevil: Born Again.

Daredevil: Born Again season 1 was largely reconceived after the 2023 actor and writer strikes. Dario Scardapane -- a veteran of The Punisher series on Netflix -- was brought in to be the new showrunner and he made a lot of changes to the series that were well-received. However, there's one episode that Scardapane didn't really change at all, and it happens to be the least favorite episode of Daredevil: Born Again's leading man, Charlie Cox.

During an appearance on The Playlist, Cox noted that he wasn't very fond of the season's fifth episode, "With Interest," which was a largely standalone episode that featured his character, Matt Murdock, in a bank during a hostage crisis.

Read more