Featured Picture: Matt Energy | Skier: Mac Forehand
Rising up in Colorado’s Entrance Vary, you have been certain to know the identify of Jeremy Bloom. His prolific profession in freestyle moguls spanned 12 FIS World Cup wins, three total World Cup titles and two Olympic runs with the U.S Freestyle Ski Staff. As if that wasn’t sufficient, he was an All-American soccer star on the College of Colorado, occurring to play a short profession within the NFL for each the Pittsburgh Steelers and Philadelphia Eagles.
To say he’s bold is the understatement of the century. However the purpose Bloom remains to be a standard identify in snowboarding nicely over a decade after his retirement from moguls isn’t due to his accolades alone (although this World Cup profitable run in that classic gold C.U. helmet is known).
As we speak, most know Bloom because the CEO of X Video games who’s introduced the long-lasting circuit into a brand new period with a number of modifications, together with a sprouting competitors league, playing and AI judging, with the latter being the main focus of his newest endeavor.
In tandem with the previous Head of AI at Google Cloud, Josh Gwyther, Bloom is launching a brand new firm, The Owl AI. With Gwyther serving as CEO and Bloom as Founder and Govt Chairman, the brand new firm might be seeking to take the progressive AI know-how that first debuted at X Video games 2025 and broaden its attain, probably altering how we prepare for, watch and compete in sports activities ceaselessly. With $11 million already raised, it’s honest to say Bloom has piqued the curiosity of many.
“I’ve all the time had this dream to eradicate human error from outcomes in sports activities, and that hasn’t been doable till just lately,” Bloom informed FREESKIER forward of Owl’s official launch. “The founding thought of this know-how is ‘no extra judging errors.’ If a competitor does the very best, they need to win.”
Contemplating Bloom’s athletic historical past, he’s well-versed to make this grievance. He’s seen the actual emotional devastation that may happen when the mistaken name immediately voids years of arduous work. However it’s the addition of Gwyther that makes this mission doable. Professionally within the tech subject for 28 years, he’s spent the final 9 years at Google, with the newest three spent main a group of engineers at Google Cloud engaged on real-world functions for cutting-edge generative AI.
“I’ve been obsessive about this know-how for many years, and seeing it come to market over the previous few years has been very validating to say the least,” mentioned Gwyther. “However sports activities have been an enormous a part of my life as nicely. Soccer, observe and subject, snowboarding; these have all given me totally different types of group, so that is a tremendous alternative to mix my two best passions.”
The 2 might want to proceed that enthusiasm if they’re to succeed, as maybe the largest problem going through Owl AI isn’t programming, however individuals. After the debut of AI-assisted judging throughout final 12 months’s X Video games snowboard superpipe, combined suggestions got here in from the bigger group. “From Eileen Gu to Scotty James and Chloe Kim, the athletes we talked to have been all excited,” Bloom exclaimed fortunately. “However we’ve got to point out the followers that that is helpful.”
“Lots of people’s first reactions are combined,” he continued. “However it’s not shocking that the youthful technology, who know and use AI, are extra welcoming than the older technology, who is likely to be a bit extra resistant.”
It additionally shouldn’t be shocking that the commonest instance of this distrust in judging facilities round model. Skiers will nearly actually grimace on the thought of a man-made intelligence system attempting to attain a Griselda Flip, however the two are conscious of this. They’re assembly the duty head-on, listening to occasions like X Video games huge air, the place judging standards embrace classes like Fashion and Originality. Bloom and Gwyther are optimistic that there’s a profitable end result ready.
“If people can perceive model, there’s no purpose that you would be able to’t get an AI mannequin to know it as nicely,” mentioned Bloom. He continued, “It’s our problem to unpack the query of what model is for the AI, and present it what to search for.” In fact, that job is less complicated mentioned than accomplished, particularly contemplating that model has an inherent human issue, and means one thing totally different to everybody as soon as you permit the confines of a judging handbook.
However that human issue isn’t going anyplace. That’s as a result of Owl is meant to be deployed alongside the judges, not rather than them. “We’re not lobbying for this know-how to interchange judges,” Bloom clarified. “We’re saying this know-how ought to help and reside amongst the judges.”
This compelling mix of humanist and futuristic beliefs has had Bloom and Gwyther one other software for Owl: teaching. “When you create an AI that may decide a sport at knowledgeable stage, it could simply be remodeled right into a coach that can provide suggestions at that very same stage,” mentioned Gwyther.
The thought is for Owl to help on two fronts: Coaches can use it to boost coaching and suggestions for athletes, and on the flip facet, athletes can make the most of this know-how to assist themselves be taught. This has the potential to be particularly helpful in sports activities like snowboarding, the place so many potential connoisseurs of the game are stifled due to a scarcity of accessible and digestible info.
That is true in rural areas in North America, and it’s equally true, if no more prevalent, in different nations. Bloom said, “After we brainstormed this know-how with athletes in Aspen, many keyed into the potential of teaching. It was highly effective listening to Eileen [Gu] key in on this, as a result of one in every of her missions in snowboarding is to encourage younger ladies all over the world, particularly in China, and there are only a few educated coaches and judges there. That alone makes entry into the game very tough for many, so having the ability to add your coaching movies and get suggestions all out of your pocket would open doorways for thus many skiers.”
This concept of accessible, in-depth teaching was one thing that captivated each Bloom and Gwyther all through the dialog, as they continued to debate the advantages at size. In fact, the most important benefit from this level is that Owl isn’t being made for simply the athletic elite. It’s a software that has the potential for use by everybody and anybody seeking to progress and discover their ardour.
It’s maybe probably the most thrilling instance of our technologically wealthy world melding with snowboarding in beforehand unexpected methods. “What’s wild is that this whole firm wouldn’t have been doable one 12 months in the past. That’s how briskly AI is progressing,” mentioned Gwyther with an excited smile.
The long-time Google exec has seen loads of change in his time, however Google’s Multimodal AI, which might interpret textual content, code, video, audio and pictures, is what he’s most enthusiastic about. “These developments in Multimodality have occurred so quickly during the last 12 months… we will now put PhD-level intelligence behind a video stream. It’s nearly arduous to know that charge of change, however at a naked minimal, it’s extremely thrilling.”
It doesn’t matter what your opinion is on the position of synthetic intelligence on this planet, its central place in society is changing into indeniable. The selection then turns into whether or not or not we can have a hand in utilizing it for what we deem as helpful. As freeskiers, we’re extremely opinionated and topic to countless debates round many issues, from conversations round X Video games judging to which Sammy C mission is the best, to how we will enhance the accessibility (and affordability) of our sport.
Nobody is arguing to let AI determine on the following finest movie at iF3, but when we will pump some larger stage of objectivity into competitions with the steerage of the very best judges and athletes on this planet, that looks like a step in the best route.
Keep tuned this winter, as FREESKIER will carry you updates from the brand new X Video games League and past
