Korean player beats Google program

SEOUL: South Korean Lee Sedol won his first match against a computer program developed by a Google subsidiary on Sunday in the ancient board game Go, denying a clean sweep for the artificial intelligence in a five-match series.

Lee, one of the world's top players and a holder of 18 international titles, recovered from three consecutive losses against the AlphaGo program developed by DeepMind.

"This win is invaluable and I would not trade it for anything else in the world," a jubilant Lee told reporters after the match, thanking fans for their support.

The 33-year-old professional player has admitted to underestimating AlphaGo's skills but also said the program was not perfect, asking supporters to keep watching the contest.

DeepMind founder Demis Hassabis told reporters the loss was a valuable learning tool and would help identify weaknesses in the program that his team needed to address.