When people find a new use for somebody else’s existing product, it’s usually a win-win for both parties. But not if the original manufacturer is kept out of the loop.
We recently learned some autonomous driving technology companies, such as Nio, are using Rockstar Games’ “Grand Theft Auto V” as a tool to help refine its driverless systems. Many were surprised to learn the game provides engineers with an extremely realistic simulation of the type of environment self-driving vehicles might commonly encounter.
Rockstar apparently also was surprised to learn this, as the developer sent a statement to Mashable on Saturday, saying it’s open to “GTA” being used for real-world automotive applications, though not without permission.
“We welcome discussions about the use of our technology to help further academic research,” Rockstar told Mashable, “but it’s obviously not appropriate for corporations to take our work and use it for their own financial interests or for researchers to distribute unlicensed copies of our code as part of their work without first seeking our permission.”
While autonomous vehicles are still in their infancy, the unauthorized use of “GTA” admittedly doesn’t actually help generate profit for tech firms. If the game helps lay the foundation for a company’s driverless program, however, any revenue that entity’s cars generate thereafter will be the direct result of Rockstar’s source code.
If manufacturers such as Nio aren’t careful, they could find themselves in an intellectual property battle over their autonomous programs, much like the suit Uber currently is fighting.
Thumbnail photo via Rockstar Games
