Fenris Creations, formerly CCP Games, has hired Áslaug Arna Sigurbjörnsdóttir, Iceland’s former Minister of Justice and former Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation, as Senior Director of AI Partnerships. The Reykjavík-based studio announced on August 7 that she will connect Fenris with AI laboratories, universities, policymakers and strategic partners around a research initiative centered on EVE Frontier. The company is positioning EVE Frontier as a live testing environment for autonomous AI agents, arguing that its persistent economy and player-driven systems offer conditions no short-lived simulation can replicate. Fenris says the EVE universe has run for more than two decades with trade, production chains, commodity markets, alliances, conflict and betrayal shaped by hundreds of thousands of real participants. The plan is to study autonomous AI agents as they set goals, respond to changing conditions and make sequences of decisions over extended periods within a live, player-populated world. “Every major advance in AI has required a new proving ground. We believe persistent virtual worlds are the next frontier,” said Hilmar Veigar Pétursson, CEO of Fenris Creations. The hire builds on a research partnership with Google DeepMind announced earlier this year. Fenris confirmed the partnership is active, with both teams completing a two-day workshop this week focused on exchanging ideas.