Simulate real-world places with Project Genie and Street View

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Project Genie, DeepMind's general-purpose world model that generates interactive 3D environments, is now paired with Google Street View's real-world imagery. Users can pick a real US location, choose a stylistic filter (Desert Sands, Ocean World, Stone Age, B&W film, etc.), and navigate an interactive world where the character's starting location is tied to Street View's actual geography. The 'Maps Imagery Grounding' technology powering this is the same API developers use for AI visuals with Street View.\n\nGenie was previously used as a foundational research tool for training AI agents in complex virtual settings, and Waymo uses it to simulate hyper-realistic road environments. The Street View integration extends this grounding capability to any mapped US location, with plans to expand internationally. Access is rolling out to Google AI Ultra subscribers (00/month, ages 18+) globally starting today.\n\nThe consumer use case is primarily creative exploration, but the deeper utility lies in AI agent training and robotic simulation — Street View grounds those environments in real-world physics and geography that matches actual deployment conditions.