XPRIZE Wildfire Names Teams Advancing in Global Competition to End Destructive Wildfires

Posted on July 14th, 2025 | Filed under Press Releases

$11M Competition Co-Sponsored by PG&E and Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation is Driving Technological Innovations Poised to Transform Wildfire Detection and Response

SAN DIEGO and OAKLAND, Calif., July 14, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — XPRIZE, the world’s leader in designing and operating large-scale incentive competitions to solve humanity’s grand challenges, today announced teams advancing in XPRIZE Wildfire, a four-year, $11 million global competition accelerating new solutions to end destructive wildfires.

This milestone comes as destructive wildfires intensify globally, prompting urgent action from world leaders. Recent commitments from the G7 and other international bodies have recognized wildfire as a growing threat, while a new U.S. Executive Order (14308) calls for a sweeping overhaul of federal wildfire governance. As policymakers work to redefine wildfire response frameworks, XPRIZE Wildfire is already accelerating bold, science-driven solutions and advancing technologies to detect and manage potentially destructive wildfires before they spread.

“Wildfires are growing more frequent, more destructive, and more costly, and the status quo is no longer sustainable in a changing climate,” said Andrea Santy, XPRIZE Wildfire Program Director. “The teams advancing to the next stages of XPRIZE Wildfire are showcasing the ingenuity we need not just to prepare for the future, but to help shape it.”

Two Tracks of Innovation: Semifinalists and Finalists Announced

XPRIZE Wildfire teams from around the world are competing to innovate a wide range of technologies in two complementary tracks designed to transform how wildfires are detected, managed, and fought. The competition’s esteemed panel of judges – composed of wildland firefighting, technical experts, and wildfire researchers – assessed each team’s ability to meet the demanding criteria of each competition track:

Finalists – Space-Based Wildfire Detection & Intelligence: In this track, teams have one minute to accurately detect all fires across a landscape larger than entire states or countries, and 10 minutes to precisely characterize and report data with the least false positives to decision-makers on the ground.

Teams participated in Semifinals Technical Verification to assess their analytical capabilities and showcase their ability to quickly, accurately, and precisely report and share insights on predetermined wildfire targets, reporting all observed wildfires and false positives using historical Earth observation data.
11 teams from 5 countries advanced to the next phase of the competition as Finalists. The Judging Panel awarded a total of $300,000 between six of the advancing teams in recognition of the distinct data analytic capabilities their systems demonstrated during the semifinals.

Semifinalists – Autonomous Wildfire Response: In this track, teams have 10 minutes to autonomously detect and suppress a high-risk fire in a 1,000 km2, environmentally challenging area, leaving any decoy fires untouched.

Technical Verification required that competing teams submit written and video demonstrations as evidence that their technologies are capable of fully autonomous wildfire detection, navigation, safety systems, and informed suppression.
15 teams representing 7 countries were selected from a pool of global registrants to advance to the next phase of the competition as Semifinalists. Teams will be eligible to receive portions of a $750,000 milestone award depending on their performance during testing.

Teams were recognized during the Esri Safety and Security Summit in San Diego, California, on Sunday, July 13, where emergency management professionals gathered to discuss how real-time mapping and analysis technologies are shaping public safety and emergency response.

“Technology at its best is a force multiplier for good, and wildfire is exactly the kind of global challenge that demands bold, collaborative technological innovation. The teams advancing in XPRIZE Wildfire are proving that we don’t have to accept destruction as inevitable,” said Dr. Catherine Ball, PhD, XPRIZE Wildfire Advisory Board Member. “This is what 21st-century climate resilience looks like: bold ideas, tested rigorously, and deployed at a planetary scale.”

Over the coming months, the XPRIZE Wildfire operations team will travel to each Autonomous Semifinalist team location for in-field testing. Teams will physically demonstrate their autonomous end-to-end wildfire response system, including smart detection, autonomous navigation and safety, and autonomous suppression, along with an overall technical readiness and scalability assessment of their system. These live trials will be captured by the testing partner, the Alaska Center for Unmanned Aircraft Systems Integration (ACUASI) and will be used for official judging, offering a unique behind-the-scenes look at wildfire technology in action.

In August 2025, Space-Based Finalist teams will have the option to participate in a live-fire exercise conducted in collaboration with the New South Wales Rural Fire Service in Australia in preparation for finals testing in early 2026.

XPRIZE Wildfire is offered in partnership with Co-Title Sponsors Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) and Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Presenting Sponsor Minderoo Foundation, Bonus Prize Sponsor Lockheed Martin and Supporting Sponsors Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, Costa Navarino, American Family Insurance, Fairfax Financial, the Roddenberry Foundation, and individual benefactors.

“At PG&E, we are committed to ending catastrophic wildfires, and within our service territory we have implemented mitigation initiatives that provide layers of protection. We work closely with innovators to adapt and adopt tools and technologies giving us new data, insights, visibility and capabilities to prevent fires and when necessary, limit their spread and size,” said Andy Abranches, Vice President, Wildfire Mitigation, PG&E. “We recognize the need to develop the technology of tomorrow and are excited about the new possibilities being unlocked by the XPRIZE Wildfire innovators who share our commitment to preventing catastrophic fires.”

“We are inspired by the creativity and ingenuity the XPRIZE competitors are bringing to this big and urgent challenge,” said Genny Biggs, program director of the Wildfire Resilience Initiative at the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. “We all know the risks of wildfire and we need innovative and practical solutions. These advancing teams are putting the solutions we need into action.”

“At Lockheed Martin, we’re committed to harnessing the power of innovation to address some of the world’s most pressing challenges, including the growing threat of wildfires,” said Robert Head, acting senior vice president of Lockheed Martin Government Affairs. “As an XPRIZE Wildfire bonus prize sponsor, we’re excited to recognize exceptional performance in accurate wildfire detection and support the development of cutting-edge technologies that can help save lives, protect communities, and preserve our natural resources.”

At the end of the competition in 2026, the winning team in each track will receive $3.5M. A $1M bonus prize, sponsored by Lockheed Martin, will be awarded for exceptional performance in accurate wildfire detection.

Full lists of semifinalist and finalist teams can be found at xprize.org/wildfire.

About XPRIZE
XPRIZE is the recognized global leader in designing and executing large-scale competitions to solve humanity’s greatest challenges. For over 30 years, our unique model has democratized crowd-sourced innovation and scientifically scalable solutions that accelerate a more equitable and abundant future. Donate, learn more, and co-architect a world of abundance with us at xprize.org.

About PG&E
Pacific Gas and Electric Company, a subsidiary of PG&E Corporation (NYSE: PCG), is a combined natural gas and electric utility serving more than sixteen million people across 70,000 square miles in Northern and Central California. For more information, visit pge.com, pge.com/news and pge.com/innovation.

About Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation
The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation fosters path-breaking scientific discovery, environmental conservation, patient care improvements and preservation of the special character of the Bay Area. Visit Moore.org or follow @MooreFound.