Sony AI Expands Capabilities of Breakthrough AI Agent Gran Turismo Sophy™, Offering Players a More Flexible and Personalized Experience

Tokyo, Japan – March 26, 2025 – Sony AI, in partnership with Polyphony Digital Inc. (PDI), a subsidiary of Sony Interactive Entertainment, today announced the release of Gran Turismo Sophy™ (GT Sophy) 2.1 in Gran Turismo™ 7 (GT7), a PlayStation® racing simulation game. The breakthrough AI racing agent, co-developed by Sony AI and PDI, will now be available in the Custom Race mode, offering players greater flexibility and control over their experience.

As part of GT7’s Custom Race mode, players will now be able to:

• Choose GT Sophy’s car models and tracks – from 19 options – and the number of laps for the race.
• Select the customizations for GT Sophy’s cars, including the ability to upgrade various car parts and modify car tuning specifications.
• Set GT Sophy’s tire and fuel consumption rates, enabling the agent to drive in any condition they specify.

“Since we first introduced GT Sophy three years ago, we have worked closely with PDI to explore how AI can enhance gameplay and create more dynamic and fun racing experiences for players of all skill levels,” said Kaushik Subramanian, Senior Staff Research Scientist at Sony AI. “With GT Sophy 2.1, we are giving players more control than ever over their interactions with GT Sophy by allowing them to fine-tune gameplay, experiment with new strategies, and advance their racing skills.”

The initial research goal of GT Sophy was to create the first superhuman AI agent to outrace the world’s best players of the highly realistic racing simulation game, Gran Turismo™ Sport. This breakthrough, featured on the cover of Nature in February 2022 , demonstrated how game developers can leverage AI to deliver both enhanced and exciting experiences for top players. However, the next challenge was creating a more dynamic racing experience for players of all levels.

Sony AI trained GT Sophy to balance its racing behavior – ensuring it exhibited greater levels of sportsmanship, finesse, and temperament – while also creating an enjoyable race experience for all players. The aim of this refinement was to inspire creativity and imagination among players by providing them with a new opportunity to experiment and elevate their gameplay. This work received strong support from the GT7 audience following GT Sophy’s limited-time and full global releases in GT7 throughout 2023 as well as its continued evolution in the game since. Since GT Sophy’s full integration, Sony AI has sustained its collaboration with PDI to refine its reinforcement learning methods for training the agent and exploring new areas it can be incorporated into the game.

"Working collaboratively with PDI and Kazunori Yamauchi has given us the opportunity to turn AI research and innovation into new and exciting gameplay within Gran Turismo," shared Pete Wurman, Deputy President of Sony AI. “We've gained invaluable insights into game design and the essential elements required to create an AI agent that enriches player experiences and inspires them to improve their racing skills. Our collaboration continues as we explore new capabilities for GT Sophy.”

GT Sophy 2.1 is now available as part of the Custom Race mode, effective with GT7’s 1.57 update on March 27, 2025.

To watch the trailer for GT Sophy 2.1, visit here.

For more information on the availability of GT Sophy 2.1, visit gran-turismo.com.

Media contact:
Sony AI
Rebecca Garcia
rebecca.garcia@sony.com
or
sonyai-pr-release@sony.com