Google’s Gemini 2.5 Pro has managed something truly noteworthy—it has completed Pokémon Blue, a classic GameBoy game that many grew up with. Google CEO Sundar Pichai was quick to share the success on social media, exclaiming, “What a finish! Gemini 2.5 Pro just completed Pokémon Blue!” The event was streamed live by independent software engineer Joel Z, whose involvement, though separate from Google, has clearly won the company’s enthusiastic support. Logan Kilpatrick, the product lead at Google AI Studio, highlighted the achievement by noting that Gemini now boasts its fifth badge—a subtle nod to its competitive edge over other models.
This milestone comes on the heels of earlier efforts by Anthropic’s Claude AI, which made notable progress with Pokémon Red. While Claude has yet to finish that game, its endeavour helped spark the interest behind Gemini’s project. Joel Z has stressed that this isn’t meant to set a new benchmark for AI gaming performance; rather, it shows how different models, like Gemini and Claude, can excel using distinct tools and data inputs. Both systems tap into specialised agent harnesses to interpret game screenshots and guide their in-game decisions. While some carefully calibrated interventions improved Gemini’s decision-making abilities, no direct game hints were provided, ensuring that the underlying AI processes remain robust and independently effective.
