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
Inspirit Capital to Acquire Kaplan Languages Group20.4.2026 17:15:00 CEST | Press release
Inspirit Capital, a specialist investor in corporate carve-outs, is pleased to announce its plans to acquire KLG Kaplan Languages Group (“KLG”), a leading global language education platform, from Kaplan. All conditions for the sale have been met, and completion is due to take place on 1 May. KLG comprises Kaplan International Languages, Alpadia Language Schools, Azurlingua, and ESL Education. Since 2006, KLG has provided high-quality language education, supporting students in achieving their language goals through academic excellence, cultural immersion, and life-changing experiences. Inspirit Capital will support KLG in delivering on its ambitious growth plans, whilst continuing its fundamental mission to transform lives through language education. This next phase of ownership will also see the development of a refreshed standalone brand identity for KLG, with further announcements to follow on this in due course. Paul Youens, Investment Director, Inspirit Capital: “KLG has built a st
Cleaner by Design: SaniSure Introduces PETG PharmaTainer™ Ultra-Clean Bottles & Carboys20.4.2026 16:00:00 CEST | Press release
Industry’s most widely adopted PETG material meets industry-leading cleanliness, compliance, and RNase/DNase-free validation—now available across the full bioprocessing workflow. SaniSure® today announced the launch of PETG PharmaTainer™, a new line of bioprocessing bottles and carboys combining widely accepted, medical-grade Eastman Eastar® PETG 6763 resin (DMF#9987) with SaniSure’s proprietary process and advanced automation. This launch expands SaniSure’s established PharmaTainer® platform—extending its proven cleanliness, robustness, and performance attributes to include industry-standard PETG alongside its existing PET and PC offerings. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260420641769/en/ PETG PharmaTainer™ bottles and carboys—RNase/DNase-free, ultra-clean, ready-to-use containers for bioprocessing applications. Available in volumes from 10 mL stability vials to 10 L carboys — in sterile (gamma-irradiated) an
Leaders of Dubai-Based Unicorns Hail City as Global Innovation Hub Shaping Future Technology and Driving the Digital Economy20.4.2026 15:08:00 CEST | Press release
Leaders of Dubai-based unicorn companies have reaffirmed the emirate’s status as a global hub for digital innovation and technology-led growth. The senior executives highlighted Dubai’s forward-looking regulatory environment, advanced infrastructure, and ability to attract international talent as key factors strengthening its appeal for high-growth digital businesses. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260420503062/en/ Leaders of Dubai-based unicorns hail city as global innovation hub shaping future technology and driving the digital economy (Photo: AETOSWire) They noted that Dubai has evolved into a strategic launchpad for ambitious companies, offering an agile business environment that supports innovation and enables expansion into regional and international markets. The business leaders also praised the strong alignment between the public and private sectors within Dubai’s digital ecosystem, supported by Dubai
Capcom’s All-New IP PRAGMATA Surpasses One Million Units Sold in Two Days!20.4.2026 15:00:00 CEST | Press release
– Highly innovative and original gameplay earns strong reception from players around the globe – Capcom Co., Ltd. (TOKYO:9697) today announced that worldwide sales of PRAGMATA, the company’s all-new IP released on April 17, 2026*, have surpassed one million units. PRAGMATA is a science-fiction action-adventure game that depicts the journey of Hugh Williams and Diana, an android girl, in a near-future lunar world. A completely new IP, PRAGMATA was developed primarily by a team of younger Capcom developers, who created an innovative gameplay experience by fusing action gameplay with puzzle elements set within a distinctive world ruled over by artificial intelligence. In the absence of an established fan base or preexisting brand recognition, Capcom implemented a range of marketing initiatives—beginning with the early release of a playable demo—to communicate the unique features of the game to a wider audience. In addition, in line with the company’s multi-platform strategy, Capcom broade
Following Oral Presentation of Phase I Data at AACR 2026, Debiopharm Announces FDA Fast Track Designation for Lunresertib in Combination With Zedoresertib for Genomic-Defined Platinum-Resistant Ovarian Cancer20.4.2026 14:30:00 CEST | Press release
Debiopharm (www.debiopharm.com), a privately-owned, Swiss-based biopharmaceutical company aiming to establish tomorrow’s standard of care to cure cancer and infectious diseases, today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Fast Track designation to the combination of its PKMYT1 inhibitor, lunresertib (Debio2513), and its WEE1 inhibitor, zedoresertib (Debio 0123). The designation is for the treatment of adult patients with CCNE1 amplified, or a deleterious mutation in either FBXW7 or PPP2R1A, platinum-resistant/refractory ovarian cancer. The FDA’s Fast Track program is designed to facilitate the development and expedite the review of new drugs intended to treat serious conditions and fill an unmet medical need. Programs granted Fast Track designation benefit from more frequent communication with the FDA and, if relevant criteria are met, may be eligible for Priority Review and Accelerated Approval of a New Drug Application (NDA). Momentum Following AACR O
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