Zzapp Malaria Wins IBM Watson AI XPIZE

Zzapp Malaria Wins IBM Watson AI XPIZE

New York, 6/29/2021

Israeli startup Zzapp Malaria, which uses AI to fight malaria, won this year’s IBM Watson AI XPRIZE. Second and third place went to digital health AI company Aifred Health and Marinus Analytics, developer of analytics tools to combat human trafficking.

https://www.xprize.org/prizes/artificial-intelligence/teams/zzappmalaria

The five-year global competition aims to recognize scalable technologies that address key societal challenges and accelerate the adoption of AI. Winners, selected from a pool of 150 entrants and 10 semifinalists, received $3 million, $1 million and $500,000, respectively.

Zzapp Malaria uses AI to analyze online databases and satellite data to optimize local mosquito control efforts. Their custom models can predict the amount of weather-related small water to optimize the right timing for larvicide interventions.

Aifred Health, based in Montreal, uses ML models to tailor individual treatments for depression. IBM Watson Health provides observational data on depression to improve the models.

Pittsburgh-based Marinus Analytics, which grew out of Carnegie Mellon Robotics, has developed a suite of analytics tools known as Traffic Jam to help track human traffickers and rescue victims.