Anduril Industries

Track-based cash awards and a new Impact Phase aim to move wildfire detection and response innovations from competition prototypes into real-world use. XPRIZE Wildfire announced finalists and prize awardees in its $11 million global competition to advance early-stage wildfire detection and autonomous response technologies. 05 million across five teams. AI each received $100,000 special recognition awards for commercial viability, operational deliverables and innovative algorithm use. 2 million ), Dryad Networks ( $800,000 ) and AURA Foresight ( $500,000 ), with Anduril also earning a $1 million bonus prize from Lockheed Martin.

The competition now enters a 12–15 month Impact Phase to help transition these technologies toward real-world deployment. AI-generated analysis. How Rhea-AI works . Not financial advice. Global Competition Recognizes Breakthrough Progress in Technologies Designed to Detect and Address Wildfires at Their Earliest, Most Controllable Stage NEW YORK , Sept. 23, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- XPRIZE, the world's leader in designing and operating large-scale incentive competitions to solve humanity's grand challenges, today announced awardees across both tracks of XPRIZE Wildfire , an $11 million global competition launched in 2023 to accelerate innovation in firefighting technologies.

The awardees were announced during the XPRIZE Wildfire Awards Ceremony held at the New York City Fire Museum. XPRIZE Wildfire was designed to develop new technologies to help prevent destructive wildfires, enabling humanity and beneficial wildfires to safely coexist. Sponsored by PG&E and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation as well as Minderoo Foundation and Lockheed Martin, the competition challenged teams across two complementary tracks, Space-Based Wildfire Detection & Intelligence and Autonomous Wildfire Response. Together, teams within the two tracks aimed to prove that speed, accuracy and autonomy can transform how wildfires are detected and addressed at the incipient stage, their earliest, most controllable stage, to shorten the time between detection and rapid response, inform management practices and minimize negative impacts.

"Destructive wildfires are becoming more extreme, costly and difficult to manage, making faster, more effective approaches increasingly urgent," said Andrea Santy, XPRIZE Wildfire Executive Program Director. "These teams pushed the boundaries of what is possible today, demonstrating meaningful advances in wildfire detection and response while helping identify where continued innovation is needed to move these technologies toward real-world deployment at scale." Following rigorous Finals Testing under real-world conditions, XPRIZE is recognizing teams for standout achievements that demonstrate meaningful progress toward that goal: Track A: Space-Based Wildfire Detection & Intelligence Track A challenged teams to utilize space-based Earth Observation data synthesized with artificial intelligence and machine learning to detect, characterize and report wildfires faster and more accurately across vast landscapes.

05 million across five Track A teams, recognizing meaningful advances in space-based wildfire detection and intelligence. Judges recognized progress in multi-sensor system integration, detection methodology, commercial readiness, operational capabilities, and innovative algorithms. The results also helped identify key technical gaps that must be addressed to enable reliable, real-time wildfire detection from space. "When Minderoo backed this challenge, we set a clear goal: find fires faster and give firefighters better information," said Minderoo Foundation's Dr.

Andrew Forrest AO. "Earlier this year, the finalist teams put their technologies to the test in real-world conditions alongside the NSW Rural Fire Service. Innovation only makes a difference when it works where lives, livelihoods and landscapes are on the line. These teams have shown what is possible." Track B: Autonomous Wildfire Response In June 2026, Autonomous Wildfire Response competitors put their solutions to the test in the Alaskan wilderness. Teams were challenged to autonomously detect and completely suppress a high-risk fire within 10 minutes of ignition across 1,000 km² of challenging terrain, without disturbing nearby decoy fires.

5 million across three Track B Finalist teams, recognizing distinct breakthroughs across the autonomous wildfire response cycle: The Lockheed Martin Accurate Detection Intelligence Bonus Prize of $1 million was awarded to Anduril Industries for their rapid and precise multi-sensor detector performance. "Witnessing the ingenuity of the competing teams reinforces our belief that making the most progress requires a firefighter-first mindset in order to innovate within the realities of the frontline," said Adam Broecker, Vice President, LM Evolve, Lockheed Martin.

"Lockheed Martin is proud to support an initiative that pushes the boundaries of autonomous detection and rapid response. While the final prize remains on the horizon, every milestone achieved in this competition brings us closer to giving firefighters, communities, and mutual aid networks the transformative tools they need to stay ahead of the fire." Together, the results across both tracks demonstrate breakthrough progress in how wildfires can be autonomously detected and addressed at the incipient stage. This final milestone demonstrates meaningful progress toward XPRIZE Wildfire's goal of a future where emerging fires can be identified and addressed faster — before they become large-scale disasters — while also helping define the work still needed to move these technologies toward broader real-world deployment.

"We are proud to be the Impact Phase Partner of XPRIZE Wildfire, supporting innovators developing breakthrough technologies that can transform how wildfires are detected and addressed in the critical early moments when every second counts," said Mark Quinlan, Chief Safety Officer and Senior Vice President, Wildfire, Emergency and Operations, PG&E. " Protecting our customers and the hometowns we serve from wildfire risk is one of PG&E's most important responsibilities. Over the past several years, we have strengthened our wildfire prevention approach through multiple layers of protection and mitigation, but we know there is always more work to do.

We are grateful for our partnership with XPRIZE and the innovators participating in XPRIZE Wildfire. Together, we can help bridge the gap between innovation and deployment and accelerate solutions that will enhance safety for all facing the threat of wildfire." "XPRIZE Wildfire has highlighted both the urgency of this challenge and the need to invest in innovative, practical solutions," said Genny Biggs, Program Director of the Wildfire Resilience Initiative at the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. "Competing teams helped advance our understanding of what's possible today, as well as the technical gaps that will have to be filled to deliver faster, more actionable intelligence in the future."

From Competition to Real-World Impact The conclusion of XPRIZE Wildfire marks a major milestone, but not the end of the work. The competition will now move into a 12- to 15-month Impact Phase focused on helping translate promising technologies from both tracks into durable, deployable solutions for real-world wildfire management. Through the Impact Phase, XPRIZE aims to build on the competition's momentum and accelerate adoption, investment and collaboration so emerging technologies can strengthen how wildfires are detected, managed and addressed before they become destructive.

"From the beginning, our hope for XPRIZE Wildfire was to change what is possible in the fight against destructive wildfires," said Anousheh Ansari, Chief Executive Officer, XPRIZE.