September 23, 2026
Autonomous systems find fires faster than they extinguish them: XPRIZE withheld top prizes
On September 23, 2026, XPRIZE did not award the two top prizes in its $11 million Wildfire competition: all three Track B finalists found the target fire in under 10 minutes, but none extinguished it completely. Entrants had to autonomously detect and suppress a fire within 10 minutes across 1,000 km² without affecting decoy fires. XPRIZE split $2.5 million between Anduril, Dryad, and AURA Foresight, while Anduril received another $1 million from Lockheed Martin.
Under the Track B rules, success meant completing the full cycle from detection to extinguishment. In the final, the systems spotted the fire but did not finish the job.
The systems are already built. Anduril connects cameras, sensors, and drones through Lattice, while Ghost-X delivers fire-suppressing balls to the fire. Dryad took second place with a network of 170 Silvanet sensors and Silvaguard drones.
Dryad says its sensors detect gases from a smoldering fire before flames appear. Once confirmed, Silvaguard can suppress a fire while it is only beginning. In a controlled 2025 demonstration, the system found the fire in 3 minutes and completed detection, localization, and extinguishment in under 12 minutes without human intervention.
Dryad offers Silvanet through a demo request. Deployment requires company credentials, access to at least one Site, and an up-to-date Android or iOS app.
XPRIZE is moving the competition into its Impact Phase, with field trials and technology assessments for fire-prone regions.
