CA-XPRIZE
23.6.2021 19:32:08 CEST | Business Wire | Press release
XPRIZE , the world’s leader in designing and operating incentive competitions to solve humanity’s grand challenges, and IBM Watson , IBM’s AI technology for business, today announced the Grand Prize Winner in the $5M IBM Watson AI XPRIZE Challenge . First launched in 2016, the five-year global competition looked to accelerate adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies and spark creative, innovative and audacious demonstrations of the technology that are truly scalable to solve societal grand challenges.
Winning first place honors is Zzapp Malaria , in second place is Aifred Health , followed by Marinus Analytics . These finalists were selected out of a pool of 10 semifinalists following presentations of their solutions to a panel of judges during an event held at TED headquarters in New York City last year. A $3 million grand prize, $1 million second place prize, and $500k third place prize will be awarded to the teams. In total, over 150 teams throughout the world joined the competition.
"After five years of hard work and dedication, XPRIZE is thrilled to announce Zzapp Malaria as the grand prize winner of IBM Watson AI XPRIZE,” said Anousheh Ansari, CEO of XPRIZE. “Zzapp Malaria, Aifred Health and Marinus Analytics are on the forefront of AI advancement, and we are looking forward to seeing firsthand the positive impact they will have on our future.”
"Each of the three finalists of the IBM Watson AI XPRIZE showcase what's possible when the power of AI is used to address some of the world’s toughest challenges,” said Daniel Hernandez, General Manager, IBM Data and AI. “It’s inspiring to witness how the AI technologies we developed at IBM help these organizations realize and scale their good tech solutions to drive positive societal change.”
Based out of Tel Aviv, Israel, Zzapp Malaria is committed to malaria elimination. The team’s AI technology is geared towards tackling the main challenges faced by malaria elimination campaigns by creating custom models, built with tools like IBM Watson Studio for Cloud Pak for Data, to predict the number of small water bodies caused by weather, enabling it to optimize the timing for launching larviciding operations.
- Marinus Analytics (based out of Pittsburgh, PA): A woman-owned company founded in 2014 out of Carnegie Mellon Robotics that is driven by a single social mission: To fight human trafficking. Their solution, Traffic Jam, is a suite of analytics tools that saves hours and sometimes days of investigative time to find traffickers and recover victims by quickly turning big data into actionable intelligence. Marinus Analytics has used IBM Watson Discovery and IBM Watson Assistant to extend their Traffic Jam application, aiding investigation into financial fraud and the illicit flow of proceeds to international crime groups.
- Aifred Health (based out of Montreal, Canada): A digital health company focused on clinical decision support in mental health, starting with depression. The team’s solution uses AI to learn from thousands of patients to help tailor treatment, reducing the time it takes for a patient to reach remission. IBM Watson Health is providing Aifred Health with millions of records of observational depression data to improve their ML models.
To determine the winner, XPRIZE AI convened a global jury of representatives from around the world. The jury evaluated each team based on their performance in the following four dimensions: achieved technical impact, evidenced real-world impact, scalability of real-world impact, and ethics and safety.
The winning teams were announced today in partnership with WIRED during the IBM Watson AI XPRIZE’s AI For Good fireside chat featuring Anousheh Ansari, CEO of XPRIZE, and Seth Dobrin, IBM’s Chief AI Officer. The two discussed the challenge and the importance of AI for the future of humanity. As part of their partnership with WIRED, XPRIZE opened up a public vote for the Most Inspiring Team, and Zzapp Malaria was selected as the winner. You can watch the full fireside chat and view additional content via WIRED’s content hub linked here.
About XPRIZE
XPRIZE, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, is the global leader in designing and implementing innovative competition models to solve the world’s grandest challenges. Active competitions include the $100M XPRIZE Carbon Removal, $15M XPRIZE Feed the Next Billion, $10 Million XPRIZE Rainforest, $10 Million ANA Avatar XPRIZE and $5 Million XPRIZE Rapid Reskilling. For more information, visit xprize.org.
About IBM Watson
Watson is IBM’s AI technology for business, helping organizations to better predict and shape future outcomes, automate complex processes, and optimize employees’ time. Watson has evolved from an IBM Research project, to experimentation, to a scaled, open set of products that run anywhere. With more than 40,000 client engagements, Watson is being applied by leading global brands across a variety of industries to transform how people work. To learn more, visit: https://www.ibm.com/watson .
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210623005848/en/
Link:
About Business Wire
Subscribe to releases from Business Wire
Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Latest releases from Business Wire
U.S. FDA Grants Priority Review to BeOne Medicines’ BRUKINSA Combination in First-Line Mantle Cell Lymphoma4.11.2026 15:13:00 CET | Press release
If approved, BRUKINSA plus rituximab would be the first and only chemotherapy-free, BTK inhibitor-based regimen for adult patients with previously untreated mantle cell lymphomaApplication supported by Phase 3 MANGROVE data, showing a 43% reduction in the risk of progression or death versus bendamustine plus rituximabFull MANGROVE results to be presented during the Plenary Scientific Session at the 68th American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting BeOne Medicines Ltd. (Nasdaq: ONC; HKEX: 06160; SSE: 688235), a global oncology company, today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted and granted Priority Review to the supplemental New Drug Application (sNDA) for BRUKINSA® (zanubrutinib) in combination with rituximab for the treatment of adult patients with previously untreated mantle cell lymphoma (MCL). The application is supported by data from the pivotal Phase 3 MANGROVE study, in which this chemotherapy-free regimen significantly reduced the risk of dis
Rimini Street Awarded CANUT Third-Party Maintenance Framework Agreement4.11.2026 15:00:00 CET | Press release
This framework agreement provides all entities subject to the French Public Procurement Code with simplified access to a support alternative enabling them to control their costs, preserve their freedom of technological choice and free themselves from vendor-imposed upgrade cycles Rimini Street, Inc. (Nasdaq: RMNI), the Software Support and Agentic AI ERP Company™ and the leading third-party support provider for Oracle, SAP and VMware software, today announced that it had been selected as the awardee of the third-party support service lots (TMA) by CANUT, the French public purchasing center specializing in digital technology and telecommunications. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20261104431817/en/ Rimini Street Awarded CANUT Third-Party Maintenance Framework Agreement Eligible public organizations subject to the French Public Procurement Code can now benefit from Rimini Street services for their Oracle, SAP, VMw
Incyte to Present New Data Highlighting Progress Across its Hematology Portfolio at ASH 20264.11.2026 15:00:00 CET | Press release
New data in myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs) will include INCA033989, Incyte’s first-in-class, mutant calreticulin (mutCALR)-targeted monoclonal antibody, in first-line myelofibrosis (MF); and preclinical findings for Incyte’s next-generation mutCALR- and JAK2V617F-targeted compoundsUpdated results for INCA033989 in second-line MF and second-line essential thrombocythemia (ET) will build on previously presented datasetsLong-term Phase 1/2 data further characterize the potential of latarcibart (VGA039), an investigational Protein S-targeting antibody, as prophylaxis in adolescents and adults with von Willebrand disease (VWD)More than 30 abstracts will highlight progress across Incyte’s broader hematology portfolioIncyte will host an investor event and webcast on Saturday, December 12, 2026 from 7:30 – 9:00 p.m. CT (8:30 – 10:00 p.m. ET) Incyte (Nasdaq:INCY) today announced that new data highlighting progress across its hematology portfolio will be presented across more than 30 abstra
Zenitar Announces Initiation of International Randomized Study of Flonoltinib Maleate in Patients with Myelofibrosis and Related American Society of Hematology 2026 Meeting Presentations4.11.2026 15:00:00 CET | Press release
Chengdu Zenitar Biomedical Technology Co., Ltd. (Zenitar) is developing flonoltinib maleate (FM), a first-in-class oral JAK2/FLT3/CDK6 inhibitor for myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs), including myelofibrosis (MF) and polycythemia vera (PV). Zenitar launched randomized Phase 2 FM-MF-02 (NCT07750574) in the US, Canada and Brazil to select Phase 3 dose for JAKi-naïve and refractory MF. Randomized FMF-02 (NCT06457425) met its week-24 endpoints: superior SVR35 and TSS50 with FM 50/100mg versus ruxolitinib; previous data presented orally at ASH24 (#486) and ASH25 (#908). ASH 2026 presence covers FMF-02 long-term follow-up (oral presentation, #411, December 12, 4:30pm) and refractory PV Phase 2 data (poster, #3765, December 13, 6pm), both in Session 634. “Over the 15 years since the initial FDA approval of Ruxolitinib, JAKi have markedly improved the prognosis of many patients with MF. The long-term data show significant room for improvement for this key therapeutic class in terms of both e
Trained Therapeutix Discovery Appoints Andrew Glass as Chief Executive Officer4.11.2026 14:41:00 CET | Press release
Trained Therapeutix Discovery ("TTxD"), a pioneering immunotherapy company founded by the Jean Boulle Group and the Heritage Group, which is developing nanomedicines to regulate innate immunity, announces the appointment of Andrew Glass as Chief Executive Officer with immediate effect. Mr. Glass has more than 20 years of leadership experience in the life sciences industry as Chief Executive Officer of Vivasure Medical and previously from over 15 years in senior leadership roles at Abbott. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20261104178009/en/ Andrew Glass, CEO, TTxD Following the previously announced changes to the Company’s Board earlier this year, Mr. Glass joins the Company as it transitions from preclinical stage to being a clinical-stage organisation. His expertise in developmental strategy, financing and organisational growth is focussed on expediting the delivery of the aims associated with TTxD’s proprietary
In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.
Visit our pressroom