XPRIZE convenes world's leading innovators to choose its next global competitions. Oct 08, 2026, 13:23 ET Scientists, astronauts, investors and philanthropists to decide which grand challenges XPRIZE takes on next MALIBU, Calif., Oct. 8, 2026 /PRNewswire/ - XPRIZE, the world's leader in designing and operating large-scale incentive competitions to solve humanity's grand challenges, will host its annual Global Visioneering Summit on October 15-17 at Calamigos Ranch in Malibu, California. Over three days, a rare cross-section of the world's leading minds, including scientists, frontier technologists, astronauts, investors, and philanthropists will convene not as an audience, but as collaborators, working side by side to determine which of humanity's most urgent challenges XPRIZE takes on next. Over the course of the Summit, six prize concepts developed through XPRIZE's year-long Global Visioneering process, two each in Health; Food + Water + Waste; and Energy + Climate + Nature, will be pitched live to attendees. Attendees will score the concepts, debate, vote and commit seed funding to launch them as XPRIZE's next global competitions. The XPRIZE model is unique amongst non-profits with its ability to leverage every prize purse dollar for a 62X return - and a record of generating $32.4 billion from the $519 million in prizes launched since its inception in 1994. The Summit will be hosted by XPRIZE CEO Anousheh Ansari, the first female private space explorer and sponsor of the Ansari XPRIZE that spurred the private spaceflight industry, and XPRIZE Founder and Chairman Peter Diamandis, New York Times bestselling author, entrepreneur and co-founder of Singularity University. The event will be emceed by Van Jones, CNN Host, Founder of DreamMachine.org and Founder of RAPPORT.co. "Global Visioneering is where the future takes shape," said Ansari. "Each year, we bring together the boldest minds in the world to decide how we can direct breakthroughs that will create a better future for all. That work has never been more urgent. Public and corporate funding for long-term solutions is pulling back just as the world's challenges are growing in size. XPRIZE exists to close that gap, giving audacious solutions the backing and momentum to reach the people who need them." Summit programming will span priority focus areas XPRIZE is racing to advance: * Health: XPRIZE Health Executive Vice President Jamie Justice will moderate a candid conversation on new frontiers in suicide prevention, in response to rising risk factors like loneliness, youth mental health challenges and economic disruption. Neuroscientist Dr. Adam Haar Horowitz will unveil a first look at DUST, an MIT Media Lab-rooted neurotech platform reimagining sleep as an active tool for mental wellness through an immersive, music-driven experience. * Food + Water + Waste: Can we rewire how we grow, buy, and value food? XPRIZE Executive Vice President Lauren Greenlee will explore soil as a new frontier with Dr. Matt Wallenstein, Chief Soil Scientist at Syngenta, Jack Gilbert, Professor, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC SD, and Sarah Mock, Agriculture & Food Systems Research, Writer and Advisor. * Energy + Climate + Nature: Watch Duty CEO John Mills joins awardees of the XPRIZE Wildfire competition to discuss how early detection technologies have advanced, including drones and sensor networks tested against live fire, and what it will take to move these technologies from field trials to the front lines. Ansari will lead The Future of Space and Its Impact on Humanity, a conversation with Apollo 9 astronaut Rusty Schweickart, investor Steve Jurvetson and APEX Co-Founder and CEO Ian Cinnamon. The panel will explore how exploration, enterprise and collaboration in space can shape humanity's future, building on the legacy of the $10 million Ansari XPRIZE that helping catalyze today's commercial space industry. XPRIZE Chairman, Peter Diamandis will record a live episode of Moonshots, his podcast tracking the future of technology and how it impacts humanity, with Ansari, Openexo Chairman Salim Ismail, and Intelligent Internet Founder Emad Mostaque. Composer Philip Sheppard, violinist Stephanie Yu and poet Salome Agbaroji will perform throughout the Summit, weaving music and spoken word into the program to open space for reflection, unexpected connections and ideas beyond what seems possible today. Attendees will also hear from XPRIZE alumni teams continuing to drive industry-changing impact well beyond their original competitions, including PLANETVILLAGE, awarded $1M in the XPRIZE Carbon Removal competition, and Longeveron, an XPRIZE Healthspan finalist. The Summit is made possible by partners who share XPRIZE's commitment to bold, catalytic impact: North Star Sponsor CollectivIQ, Alumni Advancement Sponsor Avanci, Breakthrough Sponsor The Rodney Fund, Moonshot Sponsors ECOS and GIGAHEALTH, and Health Domain Sponsor Pointe Malibu Recovery Center are all official event sponsors this year. Those interested in attending can register and view the full program at xprize.org/visioneering. 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. SOURCE XPRIZE Foundation

XPRIZE Wildfire awards honor advances in fire detection and response. September 30, 2026 XPRIZE announced the awardees of its $11 million Wildfire competition on Sept. 23, 2026, at the New York City Fire Museum during Climate Week NYC, recognizing advances in technologies designed to detect wildfires earlier and respond before they become destructive. The ceremony also featured a panel discussion with three Greek-Americans: California Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis; Kelly Vlahakis-Hanks, president and CEO of ECOS; and Peter Diamandis, founder and executive chairman of XPRIZE. The panel explored wildfire prevention and resilience following recent catastrophic wildfire seasons. The discussion focused on a shared vision for technological innovations, including ultra-early detection and precise, rapid response that could prevent small fires from escalating into devastating events. According to XPRIZE's social media recap, the ceremony brought together innovators, fire leaders, philanthropists, technology experts and partners. Conversations throughout the event examined how policy, industry and innovation could help bring finalists' technologies into wider use, as well as how satellite integration, drones, cameras and sensors could advance wildfire detection and response. Launched in 2023, XPRIZE Wildfire challenged teams from around the world to develop technologies that could help end destructive wildfires while allowing people and ecologically beneficial fires to coexist safely. Teams competed across two complementary tracks: Space-Based Wildfire Detection & Intelligence and Autonomous Wildfire Response. Track A: Space-Based Wildfire Detection & Intelligence. Track A challenged teams to combine space-based Earth observation data with artificial intelligence and machine learning to detect, characterize and report wildfires faster and more accurately across vast landscapes. XPRIZE awarded $1.05 million across five teams, recognizing advances in system integration, detection methods, commercial readiness, operational capabilities and innovative algorithms. The competition also identified technical gaps that must be addressed to enable reliable, real-time wildfire detection from space. First Place - System Integration Awardee, $500,000: SIRIUS Wildfire Alliance SIRIUS Wildfire Alliance integrated synthetic aperture radar and optical data to support fire characterization and spread modeling, demonstrating a comprehensive approach to connecting the components of its system. Second Place - Methodological Innovation Awardee, $250,000: Team Snuffed Team Snuffed developed a probabilistic data-fusion framework designed to make wildfire detection transparent, auditable and explicit about uncertainty, with an emphasis on usability for firefighters. Special Recognition - Commercial Viability, $100,000: MyRadar MyRadar was recognized for its commercial maturity, use of satellite data acquisition and demonstrated spatial precision. Special Recognition - Operational Deliverable, $100,000: DeepFire DeepFire demonstrated an operational fire-spread-alert capability designed to support wildfire detection and intelligence. Special Recognition - Innovative Algorithm Application, $100,000: Mayday.AI Mayday.AI adapted an algorithm originally developed for volcanic-ash detection to identify wildfire smoke plumes through cloud cover. Track B: Autonomous Wildfire Response. In June 2026, Autonomous Wildfire Response competitors tested their technologies in the Alaskan wilderness. Teams were challenged to autonomously detect and completely suppress a high-risk fire within 10 minutes of ignition across a 1,000-square-kilometer area of challenging terrain, without disturbing nearby decoy fires. The judging panel awarded $2.5 million across three finalist teams, recognizing distinct advances in different stages of autonomous wildfire response. First Place Awardee, $1.2 million: Anduril Industries Anduril's modular Lattice software platform connected cameras, sensors and drones in an integrated pathway from detection to suppression. Second Place Awardee, $800,000: Dryad Networks Dryad combined its Silvanet network of 170 sensors with Silvaguard drones, demonstrating end-to-end autonomy. Third Place Awardee, $500,000: AURA Foresight AURA demonstrated autonomous, persistent detection and met the competition's critical 10-minute detection requirement. Separately, Anduril Industries received the $1 million Lockheed Martin Accurate Detection & Intelligence Bonus Prize, recognizing the speed and precision of its multisensor detection performance. From competition to real-world testing. Following the awards, XPRIZE Wildfire is moving into an Impact Phase focused on developing promising technologies from both tracks into durable, deployable tools for wildfire management. Awardees will continue developing and testing their technologies in real-world environments. Through field trials, technology evaluation and knowledge sharing, the program aims to accelerate adoption and integration into operational use, particularly in regions facing high wildfire risk. The next stage will focus on helping technologies move beyond competition testing to support earlier detection and faster response in practice. Competition partners and sponsors. XPRIZE Wildfire's co-title sponsors are Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. The Minderoo Foundation is the presenting sponsor and co-designer of the Space-Based Wildfire Detection & Intelligence track, while Lockheed Martin sponsors the $1 million Accurate Detection & Intelligence Bonus Prize. Supporting sponsors include the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, Costa Navarino, American Family Insurance, Fairfax Financial, the Roddenberry Foundation and individual benefactors. PG&E is the lead sponsor of the Impact Phase. Filed Under

Polyfork, an AI-powered 3D modeling business founded by Lucas Martinic, won first place in the Build with Gemini XPRIZE, earning the competition's $500,000 grand prize after building a revenue-generating company in 90 days.