Sony appears to have big plans for PS5 and AI technology, which would help give it a slightly stronger computational advantage over Microsoft's Xbox Series X.

Information freely available on Sony's website Slides from May 26 Sony Corporate Strategy Meeting obtained from the show. The company devoted multiple slides to PlayStation topics, covering everything from PlayStation Studios movies and TV shows to the continued importance of the PlayStation Plus subscription service. Perhaps most intriguing, however, is the slide on "Collaboration in Game AI."

"Sony AI, founded last year, has begun collaborating with PlayStation to make the gaming experience richer and more enjoyable."

"By leveraging reinforcement learning, we are developing a game AI agent that will serve as a player's in-game opponent and cooperative partner.

For those unfamiliar with Sony AI, it is a larger initiative at Sony that aims "to harness AI to unleash human imagination and creativity," according to its website According to its website, the goal is to "harness AI to unleash human imagination and creativity. Sony is a bit vague about how its AI protocol differs from similar projects in other technology areas. However, the company explains that the four main pillars of Sony AI are gastronomy, imaging and sensing, gaming, and AI ethics.

Adopting smarter, more sensitive AI for gaming could have significant benefits. As the slideshow suggests, computer-controlled enemies and allies in video games do not typically behave like real people. Sony's AI could theoretically help non-player characters in video games react more dynamically to player choices and skill levels, or at least behave unpredictably enough to simulate a real person behind the controller can be used.

If successful, Sony could leverage this AI protocol to provide players with smarter computer-controlled opponents and allies. This, like Nvidia's DLSS, would reduce the computational load on the hardware, which could then be offset to the cloud. It would also help provide more dynamic games on the PS5 than on the Xbox Series X. However, Microsoft has its own cloud platform, Azure, which could easily implement similar functionality.

The slideshow included several other PlayStation-related talks, including an interesting speech by Jim Ryan, president and CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment, about the current status of PS5 and what Sony hopes to accomplish next. (Sony wants to develop smartphone games for its popular IP, but nothing too shocking here. I haven't heard much else about that.)

PlayStation Plus is also a surprisingly large part of Sony's strategy, with the service growing "almost tenfold" compared to 2014, according to the slideshow. (Sony calls PlayStation Plus "the most important [direct-to-consumer] service within the Sony Group.") PlayStation Plus appears to be extremely popular and profitable.

One last interesting note. Sony may have big plans for its cloud gaming service, PlayStation Now:

"We are currently working on enhancing and developing services within our network, including PlayStation Plus and PlayStation Now, a streaming gaming service that launched in 2014. We are working to enhance and develop services within the network, such as PlayStation Plus and PlayStation Now, a streaming game service that launched in 2014.

Could PlayStation Now be a true Xbox Game Pass competitor, or is Sony just assuring investors that yes, the service still exists and is profitable? Hopefully, we'll know by the end of the year.