Simon Willison's Weblog·2 months ago·
54
● 2 sources
Dylan Castillo conducted a systematic evaluation across 7 AI models using 48 prompts (8 animals × 6 vehicles tested 3 times each) to determine whether labs were deliberately optimizing for drawing pelicans on bicycles. The analysis found no significant evidence of "pelicanmaxxing": models showed no particular advantage at rendering pelicans, bicycles, or the combination, with GLM-5.2 showing only a marginal effect not reaching statistical significance. The finding suggests AI labs are not specifically tuning their models to excel at this particular meme benchmark.
Roblox is combining a video world model called the Super Upsampler with its game engine to generate photorealistic graphics while maintaining consistent multiplayer gameplay at scale, reaching 45 million concurrent users in August 2025. The hybrid system splits responsibilities: the game engine tracks state, physics, and rules across all players, while the Super Upsampler upsamples simple engine-rendered frames into photorealistic visuals, addressing limitations where video models alone lack persistence and world understanding while game engines alone struggle with realistic graphics. This approach allows creators on modest hardware to build visually sophisticated multiplayer games without the cost or complexity of traditional photorealism pipelines.
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