OpenAI’s o3 AI model is currently attempting to beat Pokémon Red, but progress has been glacial. After over 80 hours of playtime, it’s only managed to earn two gym badges and is still fumbling its way through the infamous Rock Tunnel, with the total stream surpassing six days and counting.
Watch o3 play Pokémon—live. See how it plans its next move, explains its reasoning, analyzes the map visually, and saves to memory.
— OpenAI Developers (@OpenAIDevs) May 27, 2025
Thank you community member @Clad3815 for putting this stream together! https://t.co/u7L118RTp5 pic.twitter.com/DoediYfaJA
This isn’t a speedrun. The AI reasons through every move, visually analyzes maps, and saves its progress to memory as it learns — making the playthrough more about capability testing than pure entertainment. Compared to the legendary Twitch Plays Pokémon, which finished the game in 400 hours, o3 has a long road ahead.
Interestingly, this isn’t the first AI to take on a Pokémon game. Google’s AI model previously beat Pokémon Blue in 800 hours, showing how these experiments mark milestones in AI’s ability to handle dynamic, unpredictable tasks. Whether o3 will beat Google’s record or stall out in Rock Tunnel remains to be seen.
