Gran Turismo 7’s GT Sophy AI opponent is no longer limited to Quick Race: since update 1.57 in March 2025, PS5 players can assign Sophy 2.1 to individual rival cars in Custom Race on 19 supported tracks. The added control makes it easier to build a race around different cars and settings. Sony says Sophy is tuned for sportsmanship and enjoyable racing, but that is a design goal—not proof that every player or race will feel better.
What changed with GT Sophy 2.1?
GT Sophy is an AI racing agent co-developed by Sony AI and Polyphony Digital. In GT7, it serves as an alternative opponent to the game’s ordinary rival AI. The key expansion arrived in update 1.57 in March 2025: on PS5, players can now select Sophy for individual rival cars in Custom Race, rather than using it only through Quick Race. Gran Turismo’s announcement lists 19 supported tracks.
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Custom Race lets players tune several parts of the event, including the AI car, track, lap count, car upgrades and tuning, and tire and fuel consumption rates. Some settings may still be restricted. Players can also stage one-make races using cars from their own garages. The supported tracks and layouts matter: the feature is not documented as available on every GT7 track.
How to race against Sophy in a Custom Race
- Choose a track and layout that supports GT Sophy.
- Open Custom Race.
- Set GT Sophy as the Rival Car AI for the cars you want Sophy to drive.
- Adjust the permitted race settings, such as laps, car setup, tire wear, and fuel consumption.
- Start the race.
The official feature announcement describes Sophy 2.1 as a PS5 feature. It does not establish a requirement for a particular controller, steering wheel, subscription, or separate AI service.
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How Sophy’s GT7 availability evolved
| When and version | Mode and availability |
|---|---|
| February 2023 | GT Sophy appeared in a limited-time Race Together mode, a preview rather than permanent broad availability. Gran Turismo’s announcement |
| November 2023, Spec II / Sophy 2.0 | Quick Race on PS5, with Sophy available on nine tracks. The launch announcement described coverage of 340 cars and 95% of GT7’s car models at that time. Those figures refer to the 2023 launch, not the current number of possible Sophy 2.1 Custom Race combinations. Gran Turismo’s launch announcement |
| January 2025, update 1.55 | PlayStation announced Autódromo de Interlagos and Mount Panorama Circuit for Sophy in Quick Race. This was a dated addition, not a complete present-day Quick Race track list. PlayStation’s update announcement |
| March 2025, update 1.57 / Sophy 2.1 | Custom Race support on 19 tracks, with Sophy selectable for individual rival cars and more race settings to customize. The feature is for PS5. Gran Turismo’s announcement |
The counts above describe different announcements and modes; they should not be added together or treated as a single roster shared across Quick Race and Custom Race.
Why the AI is different from an ordinary scripted rival
Sophy’s origins are in research on racing agents for Gran Turismo Sport, not in the GT7 Custom Race feature itself. Sony’s historical account says the agent learned through reinforcement learning from a blank slate. The technical paper describes a model-free, off-policy deep reinforcement-learning method called quantile regression soft actor-critic (QR-SAC). In that research setup, the agent received rewards for progressing around the track and penalties for going out of bounds, hitting walls, or losing traction; actors practiced while the system used past experience to update its policy. This explains the research-era approach, not every implementation detail in the commercial GT7 game.
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The original research reported competition against top human drivers on three car-and-track combinations and superhuman time-trial performance on those studied tracks. Its authors also described more than 45,000 driving hours accumulated during training for a policy. These are results and training figures from GT Sport research, not measures of Sophy 2.1’s performance or enjoyment in GT7. The Nature paper
Does Sophy make GT7 races better?
Sony AI says it refined Sophy to show more sportsmanship, finesse, and temperament, and to make races more enjoyable across skill levels. Its stated aim is to let players fine-tune races, experiment with strategies, and develop their driving skills. The new Custom Race controls support that aim: players can place Sophy in particular rival cars and shape more of the race around their preferences. Sony AI’s Sophy 2.1 announcement
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That makes “better” a plausible design outcome, not a measured universal verdict. The cited sources do not provide a representative independent study of player satisfaction, Sophy’s error rate in current GT7 builds, or whether it is consistently enjoyable for every skill level. The 2022 research demonstrates strong performance in its own GT Sport experiments; it does not independently evaluate the current GT7 feature.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How to choose between Sophy and the ordinary rival AI
| Consideration | Ordinary rival AI | GT Sophy |
|---|---|---|
| Where it appears | Standard GT7 events | Sophy modes on supported tracks and layouts |
| Race modes | Standard events | Quick Race; Sophy 2.1 also supports Custom Race on PS5 |
| Configuration | Depends on the event’s settings | Selectable Sophy rivals and adjustable Custom Race parameters, subject to restrictions |
| Platform | Not specified here | PS5 for the documented Sophy feature |
Choose Sophy when you want a configurable rival in a supported Quick Race or Custom Race; use the ordinary rival AI when you are playing a standard event or a track and layout outside Sophy’s supported selection. The available sources do not provide a controlled head-to-head scorecard for enjoyment or mistake rates.
Quick Recap
Sources
- Gran Turismo: GT Sophy 2.1 Custom Race announcement
- Sony AI: GT Sophy 2.1 announcement
- Gran Turismo: GT Sophy 2.0 launch announcement
- Gran Turismo: Race Together announcement
- PlayStation: update 1.55 announcement
- Nature: GT Sophy research paper
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