AI Racers (AIレーサー AI Rēsā?) are characters that appear in the Sonic the Hedgehog series. They are cybernetic replicas of certain characters created by Dodon Pa, designed to challenge the player's racing capabilities.
Appearance[]
The AI Racers resemble the playable racers in appearance, with several notable differences. Their bodies are covered in a singular glowing color which differs depending on the team they are on, have glowing white eyes with no irises, and a glitching effect can be seen around several parts of their bodies. AI Racers also sport a glowing emblem on their chest depicting the tire in Donpa Motors' logo. When they "talk", their voice appears as warbled gibberish. Unlike the characters they are based on, they lack mouths, unless that character has an unconventional mouth design (namely Vector, the Deadly Six, and the Babylon Rogues), in which cases they keep their mouths, but do not move when they talk.
The color schemes for each of the AI Racer teams and their corresponding members are:
- Team Sonic - Blue
- Team Rose - Magenta
- Team Dark - Red and black
- Team Chaotix - Purple
- Team Eggman - Amber
- Team Dimensions - Grey
- Team Deadly Six - Dark blue
- Team Babylon Rogues - Green
History[]
Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds[]
In Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds, AI Racers appear in the game's Race Park mode as opponents that can be challenged in the various sub-modes. When starting up the mode, the AI Racer rival team that is available to challenge will be shown, and all members of that team will drive a recolored version of a specific Machine. Once a team is beaten three times, the Machine they rode will be unlocked for the player to use. In modes that have a higher number of team players than characters on the rival team, extra characters will fill in their places, though they will simply be the regular character, rather than their AI Racer counterpart.
The AI Racers are also unlockable skins for the characters that can be used by the player. They are unlocked by reaching Level 4 with that character in Friendships mode. When playing as them in Grand Prix, they are treated the same as Super Sonic and the downloadable characters when it comes to Rival Racer dialogues, where the rival will use a generic line against them and the AI Racer will not say anything back.
List of AI Racers[]
| Team | AI Racers | Associated Machine | Gadget Setup |
|---|---|---|---|
| Team Sonic |  Sonic the Hedgehog |
 Mirage Blade |
   Speed Upgrade |
 Miles "Tails" Prower | |||
 Knuckles the Echidna | |||
| Team Rose |  Amy Rose |
 Victoria Carriage |
   Defense Upgrade |
 Cream the Rabbit and Cheese | |||
 Big the Cat | |||
| Team Dark |  Shadow the Hedgehog |
 Hyper Scorpion |
     Attack Upgrade |
 Rouge the Bat | |||
 E-123 Omega | |||
| Team Chaotix |  Vector the Crocodile |
 Knight Tank |
     Ring Upgrade |
 Espio the Chameleon | |||
 Charmy Bee | |||
| Team Eggman |  Dr. Eggman |
 Moto Beetle |
    Power Type Upgrade |
 Sage | |||
 Metal Sonic | |||
 Egg Pawn | |||
| Team Dimensions |  Silver the Hedgehog |
 Cyber Spear |
   Warp Customization |
 Blaze the Cat | |||
| Team Deadly Six |  Zavok |
 Fang Loader |
  Drift Upgrade |
 Zazz | |||
| Team Babylon Rogues |  Jet the Hawk |
 Ancient Throne |
   Style Customization |
 Wave the Swallow | |||
 Storm the Albatross |
Other game appearances[]
Sonic Dash[]
In Sonic Dash, the AI Racer modeled after Sonic (referred to as "Rival Sonic" in-game) appears as one of the playable characters, who was added to the game's roster as a part of the version 8.13.0 update. In-game, it rides a recolored version of Sonic's Blue Star II and has the following gameplay statistics:
| Image | Rarity | Stats (Max Level) | Affinity Bonus | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dash Boost | x2 Multiplier | Magnet | Shield | Headstart | |||
 |
 |
8.2s | 15.7s | 17.3s | 12.6s | 8.2s | N/A |
Sonic Forces: Speed Battle[]
In Sonic Forces: Speed Battle, the AI Racer modeled after Sonic (referred to as "Rival Sonic" in-game) appears as one of the playable characters, who was added to the game's roster as a part of the version 5.11.0 update. In-game, it rides a recolored version of Sonic's Blue Star II and has the following gameplay characteristics:
| Image | Rarity | Stats (n/100) | Items | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spd. | Acc. | Str. | Projectile | Boost | Trap | ||
|
 |
99 | 88 | 73 |  |
 |
 |
Sonic Dash+[]
In Sonic Dash+, the AI Racer modeled after Sonic (referred to as "Rival Sonic" in-game) appears as one of the playable characters, who was added to the game's roster as a part of the version 2.26.0 update. In-game, it rides a recolored version of Sonic's Blue Star II and has the following gameplay statistics:
| Image | Affinity Bonus | Unlock Requirement | Upgrade Profile | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Power-Up | Highest level | |||
|
|
 
|
Obtain 500 
|
Dash Boost | 10 |
| x2 Multiplier | 11 | |||
| Magnet | 12 | |||
| Shield | 9 | |||
| Headstart | 10 | |||
Trivia[]
- The AI Racers bear a slight resemblance to the Shadow clones from Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games, Guardian from Sonic at the Olympic Games (2020) and Hologram Tails from Sonic Frontiers.
- A majority of the AI Racer's customization kits reference aspects of the team they're based on:
- Team Sonic has a speed setup, in reference to Sonic's renowned speed.
- Team Rose has a defense set up, a reference to the fact Team Rose are often treated as the "easy" gameplay of the games they feature in, focusing on ease of use over speed.
- Team Dark has attack up items, a possible reference to Shadow's more attack-minded gameplay.
- Team Chaotix has a ring-based kit, a reference to Chaotix Recital's ability to gain rings from defeated enemies on use.
- Team Eggman has a power kit, possibly as a reference to Eggman's frequent appearance as a Power Type character.
- Team Dimension's kit has warp properties, referencing how Silver and Blaze warp time-space.
- Team Deadly Six's kit has a drift kit, referencing their ability to ride on their mechs: Moon Mech for Zazz and Mech Dragon for Zavok respectively. In addition, Sonic Lost World's main setting also has a more curvy environment, compared to other games
- Team Babylon Rogues has an air trick based kit, a possible reference to the fact the Sonic Riders series had a focus on its trick system.