JULY 12, 2026 · 9 SLIDES

First Machine to the Fire

Five teams are racing across 1,000 square kilometers of Alaska to prove a machine can fight a wildfire with no human in the loop.

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SWIPE, SCROLL OR CLICK A SLIDE TO GO FULLSCREEN · 9 SLIDES

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Sources

XPRIZE Wildfire (finalists, tracks, prize structure, ACUASI, $11M purse)
https://www.xprize.org/news/meet-the-future-of-autonomous-wildfire-response-xprize-wildfire-announces-finalist-teams-advancing-in-11m-competition
Dryad Networks, self-reported (Alaska demo, up to 100 L, sensor count, nearly 300 teams, September 2026)
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260707802818/en/Dryad-Networks-Reaches-XPRIZE-Wildfire-Finals-Milestone-Demonstrating-Autonomous-Detection-and-Suppression-of-Wildfires-in-Alaska
FAA UAS Test Sites (ACUASI designation)
https://www.faa.gov/uas/programs_partnerships/test_sites
ASU News (Alaska fire-season background)
https://news.asu.edu/20251028-science-and-technology-using-ai-help-predict-wildfires-alaska
Every Alaska AI decision we track, with live deadlines, lives at the Alaska AI Docket
https://alaskaaihq.com