Battlefield 2042 uses AI-controlled soldiers to fill slots in its large multiplayer matches whenever there aren't enough human players available. These AI characters can capture objectives, drive vehicles, throw grenades, and revive squadmates — and players cannot opt out of being matched with them.

Introduced with Battlefield 2042 at launch on November 19, 2021, on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. In the main Conquest and Breakthrough modes, AI Soldiers are added automatically to reach the server's target player count (up to 128 on current-gen platforms and PC, up to 64 on last-gen consoles) and cannot be disabled by players in standard matchmaking. EA confirmed a cap of up to 64 AI soldiers per match, with human players always taking matchmaking priority. The AI Soldiers are not designed to use Specialist Traits and Specialties. In the game's Portal mode, server operators can configure the number, difficulty, and stat modifiers of AI bots. EA stated that AI Soldiers are intended to "play the game like how you would play it yourself."