X Games Pivots to AI Judging, Forging a New Frontier in Sports

Photo Credit : Josh Boles

The Salt Lake City X Games, currently unfurling its annual spectacle of controlled chaos and gravity-defying feats, arrives amidst a rather pointed announcement from its executive suite. Beyond the dizzying spins and audacious aerials, a new venture is taking flight: The Owl AI, a standalone tech company born from the X Games' own artificial intelligence judging platform. This isn't merely a rebranding; it's a strategic maneuver by CEO Jeremy Bloom to spin off a nascent technology into a broader commercial enterprise, aiming to disrupt how subjective sports are judged, perceived, and consumed.

Photo Credit : Josh Boles

The Owl AI made its initial, albeit somewhat clunky, public debut at the Aspen X Games earlier this year, specifically in the men's snowboard superpipe event. The premise was intriguing: an AI system analyzing practice runs, then predicting podium finishes. In that trial, as the official release notes, the platform successfully pegged the top three—Scotty Jamesin first, Yuto Totsuka second, and Ayumu Hirano third. A prophetic success, at least from the X Games' perspective. However, as some observers pointed out, the live integration was far from seamless, with broadcast interruptions for AI-driven recaps that reportedly disrupted the flow of competition, leading to moments of missed action for the audience. The optics, it would seem, were still a work in progress.

Yet, this hasn't deterred Bloom, a fascinating figure with a resume that reads like a modern-day Renaissance man's dream. An All-American football player who was drafted into the NFL, a two-time U.S. Olympic skier with ten FIS World Cup gold medals, and a member of the National Ski Hall of Fame, Bloom transitioned seamlessly into a 13-year career in the tech industry before taking the helm at the X Games. It's evident he's leveraging his diverse background, openly drawing from the tech playbook to reshape the X Games brand. The recent flurry of announcements, from strategic partnerships to the bold new X Games League initiative, underscores a clear intent to innovate and expand.

The newly formed Owl AI company will establish its headquarters in Boulder, Colorado, setting up shop off Pearl Street. At its head will be Josh Gwyther, formerly Google's head of AI Solutions Architecture, a clear signal of the ambition and expertise being brought to bear. The venture has already secured an $11 million seed round, with notable backing from S32, a firm founded by Google Ventures creator Bill Maris, as well as contributions from Menlo Ventures and Susa Ventures. This capital infusion provides the runway for Owl AI to pursue its broader vision.

Bloom articulated the company's genesis, noting in a recent statement that when The Owl was first launched in Aspen, "the mission was clear: to modernize and elevate how sports are judged, experienced, and understood, using the power of AI." He expressed surprise at the immediate "surge of excitement among all the stakeholders including athletes and also other leagues," which, in his view, signaled something "big and necessary."

The stated intent, for now, is not to replace human judges but to complement their work. The rationale presented suggests that AI can offer a new layer of objectivity and consistency in subjective sports. However, the very notion of an AI judge, even as an assist, opens a fascinating, if sometimes uneasy, conversation about the nature of human performance, artistry, and the inherent, often intangible, qualities that elevate a run beyond mere data points. Will the pursuit of algorithmic perfection inadvertently sterilize the very creativity that defines these sports? The argument, as some have noted, is that human error is part of the drama, the debate, and indeed, the human element that makes sports so compelling. As Owl AI seeks to integrate its platform into other judged sports like gymnastics and figure skating, the unfolding narrative will undoubtedly offer a potent case study on the evolving relationship between human endeavor and artificial intelligence.

Photo Credit : Josh Boles