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Elon Musk’s OpenAI bots crush veteran DOTA 2 players ahead of International tournament
OpenAI’s team of AI-powered Dota 2 bots have reached yet another impressive milestone — it was able to beat the five veteran players in a 3-on-3 match, dominating two rounds before being defeated narrowly in the third match. The OpenAI Five are now headed to The International, a worldwide event later this month where the world’s best Dota 2 players will battle it out for the chance to be crowned 2018’s Dota 2 champions.
The OpenAI Five clashed with popular Dota 2 personalities such as Ben “Merlini” Wu, William “Blitz” Lee, Ioannis “Fogged” Lucas, David “MoonMeander” Tan, and Austin “Capitalist” Walsh. The bots completely overpowered Team Human in the first game, with the players unable to destroy any of the of the bots’ towers before the end of the match. The Dota 2 pros fought harder in the second round and managed to destroy one of the OpenAI Five’s towers, but they ultimately had to admit defeat to the bots.
Team Human did squeeze out a win in the third match, but not without some strings attached. The characters Open AI played were selected by Twitch users, giving Team Human a slight advantage. The team of bots calculated a 2.9% chance of winning before the start of the game based on its heroes’ lineup. The bots nevertheless fought a hard battle, at one point predicting a 17% win probability before succumbing to Team Human’s assault 35:47 into the game.
OpenAI’s initiatives with Dota 2 began in March last year. The first bot the nonprofit created started training with simple tasks and self-play. On August 7, 2017, the bot started an impressive winning streak after it defeated Blitz, a well-known player in the Dota 2 community. Later, the bot managed to win against two other high-ranking players. It continued with its winning streak defeating well-respected Dota 2 player Arteezy the day after. The Open AI bot went on to best other notable players including, SumaiL, and former world champion, Dendi.
This year’s team of bots involved a serious amount of hardware and training. The nonprofit research lab employed a scaled-up version of Proximal Policy Optimization running on 256 GPUs and 128,000 cores, a similar setup used in last year’s bot which dominated in 1-vs-1 Dota 2 matches. The OpenAI Five also played roughly 180 years worth of gameplay every day through reinforcement learning, which allowed the bots to develop advanced skills for the game.
-->OpenAI Five’s latest win against its most formidable adversaries yet ultimately demonstrates the immense progress the bots have made over the past few months. The bots were losing to amateur players in May, but by June, it had matured enough to beat casual gamers. Now, the bots have shown that they are good enough to defeat gamers that have been playing Dota 2 for years. Nevertheless, it is still up for question if OpenAI Five can beat the best players in the game at The International later this month.
Watch OpenAI Five dominate Team Human in the video below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7_mnrxFmo0
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Tesla FSD V14.2.1 is earning rave reviews from users in diverse conditions
Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (Supervised) software continues its rapid evolution, with the latest V14.2.1 update drawing widespread praise.
Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (Supervised) software continues its rapid evolution, with the latest V14.2.1 update drawing widespread praise for its smoother performance and smarter decision-making.
Videos and firsthand accounts from Tesla owners highlight V14.2.1 as an update that improves navigation responsiveness, sign recognition, and overall fluidity, among other things. Some drivers have even described it as “more alive than ever,” hinting at the system eventually feeling “sentient,” as Elon Musk has predicted.
FSD V14.2.1 first impressions
Early adopters are buzzing about how V14.2.1 feels less intrusive while staying vigilant. In a post shared on X, Tesla owner @LactoseLunatic described the update as a “huge leap forward,” adding that the system remains “incredibly assertive but still safe.”
Another Tesla driver, Devin Olsenn, who logged ~600 km on V14.2.1, reported no safety disengagements, with the car feeling “more alive than ever.” The Tesla owner noted that his wife now defaults to using FSD V14, as the system is already very smooth and refined.
Adverse weather and regulatory zones are testing grounds where V14.2.1 shines, at least according to testers in snow areas. Tesla watcher Sawyer Merritt shared a video of his first snowy drive on unplowed rural roads in New Hampshire, where FSD did great and erred on the side of caution. As per Merritt, FSD V14.2.1 was “extra cautious” but it performed well overall.
-->Sign recognition and freeway prowess
Sign recognition also seemed to show improvements with FSD V14.2.1. Longtime FSD tester Chuck Cook highlighted a clip from his upcoming first-impressions video, showcasing improved school zone behavior. “I think it read the signs better,” he observed, though in standard mode, it didn’t fully drop to 15 mph within the short timeframe. This nuance points to V14.2.1’s growing awareness of temporal rules, a step toward fewer false positives in dynamic environments.
FSD V14.2.1 also seems to excel in high-stress highway scenarios. Fellow FSD tester @BLKMDL3 posted a video of FSD V14.2.1 managing a multi-lane freeway closure due to a police chase-related accident. “Perfectly handles all lanes of the freeway merging into one,” the Tesla owner noted in his post on X.
FSD V14.2.1 was released on Thanksgiving, much to the pleasant surprise of Tesla owners. The update’s release notes are almost identical to the system’s previous iteration, save for one line item read, “Camera visibility can lead to increased attention monitoring sensitivity.”
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Tesla FSD Supervised ride-alongs in Europe begin in Italy, France, and Germany
The program allows the public to hop in as a non-driving observer to witness FSD navigate urban streets firsthand.
Tesla has kicked off passenger ride-alongs for Full Self-Driving (Supervised) in Italy, France and Germany. The program allows the public to hop in as a non-driving observer to witness FSD navigate urban streets firsthand.
The program, detailed on Tesla’s event pages, arrives ahead of a potential early 2026 Dutch regulatory approval that could unlock a potential EU-wide rollout for FSD.
Hands-Off Demos
Tesla’s ride-along invites participants to “ride along in the passenger seat to experience how it handles real-world traffic & the most stressful parts of daily driving, making the roads safer for all,” as per the company’s announcement on X through its official Tesla Europe & Middle East account.
Sign-ups via localized pages offer free slots through December, with Tesla teams piloting vehicles through city streets, roundabouts and highways.
“Be one of the first to experience Full Self-Driving (Supervised) from the passenger seat. Our team will take you along as a passenger and show you how Full Self-Driving (Supervised) works under real-world road conditions,” Tesla wrote. “Discover how it reacts to live traffic and masters the most stressful parts of driving to make the roads safer for you and others. Come join us to learn how we are moving closer to a fully autonomous future.”
-->Building trust towards an FSD Unsupervised rollout
Tesla’s FSD (Supervised) ride-alongs could be an effective tool to build trust and get regular car buyers and commuters used to the idea of vehicles driving themselves. By seating riders shotgun, Tesla could provide participants with a front row seat to the bleeding edge of consumer-grade driverless systems.
FSD (Supervised) has already been rolled out to several countries, such as the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and partially in China. So far, FSD (Supervised) has been received positively by drivers, as it really makes driving tasks and long trips significantly easier and more pleasant.
FSD is a key safety feature as well, which became all too evident when a Tesla driving on FSD was hit by what seemed to be a meteorite in Australia. The vehicle moved safely despite the impact, though the same would likely not be true had the car been driven manually.
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Swedish union rep pissed that Tesla is working around a postal blockade they started
Tesla Sweden is now using dozens of private residences as a way to obtain license plates for its vehicles.
Two years into their postal blockade, Swedish unions are outraged that Tesla is still able to provide its customers’ vehicles with valid plates through various clever workarounds.
Seko chairman Gabriella Lavecchia called it “embarrassing” that the world’s largest EV maker, owned by CEO Elon Musk, refuses to simply roll over and accept the unions’ demands.
Unions shocked Tesla won’t just roll over and surrender
The postal unions’ blockade began in November 2023 when Seko and IF Metall-linked unions stopped all mail to Tesla sites to force a collective agreement. License plates for Tesla vehicles instantly became the perfect pressure point, as noted in a Dagens Arbete report.
Tesla responded by implementing initiatives to work around the blockades. A recent investigation from Arbetet revealed that Tesla Sweden is now using dozens of private residences, including one employee’s parents’ house in Trångsund and a customer-relations staffer’s home in Vårby, as a way to obtain license plates for its vehicles.
Seko chairman Gabriella Lavecchia is not pleased that Tesla Sweden is working around the unions’ efforts yet again. “It is embarrassing that one of the world’s largest car companies, owned by one of the world’s richest people, has sunk this low,” she told the outlet. “Unfortunately, it is completely frivolous that such a large company conducts business in this way.”
-->Two years on and plates are still being received
The Swedish Transport Agency has confirmed Tesla is still using several different workarounds to overcome the unions’ blockades.
As noted by DA, Tesla Sweden previously used different addresses to receive its license plates. At one point, the electric vehicle maker used addresses for car care shops. Tesla Sweden reportedly used this strategy in Östermalm in Stockholm, as well as in Norrköping and Gothenburg.
Another strategy that Tesla Sweden reportedly implemented involved replacement plates being ordered by private individuals when vehicles change hands from Tesla to car buyers. There have also been cases where the police have reportedly issued temporary plates to Tesla vehicles.
Tesla FSD V14.2.1 is earning rave reviews from users in diverse conditions
Tesla FSD Supervised ride-alongs in Europe begin in Italy, France, and Germany
