AI Crushes Stratego, Solving Longtime Challenge on a Budget

Stratego, a classic board game with hidden information and long gameplay, had resisted AI mastery until now. A team of researchers developed Ataraxos, an AI that defeated the world’s best Stratego player, Pim Niemeijer, 15-1 with four draws. The victory was achieved using only 16 GPUs and minimal training costs, marking a significant leap in AI’s ability to handle complex, imperfect-information games. Stratego’s complexity comes from its vast number of possible setups and lengthy gameplay, which required Ataraxos to master bluffing and strategic deception, aspects that had stumped earlier AI attempts.