New satellites to use AI for wildfire detection, starting in California [Video]

SAN DIEGO (KGTV)— The rise in extreme wildfires in California now has tech giant Google concerned.

Recently, the company made a big investment in the future of fire detection in the Golden State.

According to firefighters, battling fires in California seems to be a constant task.

“We’ve been seeing an uptick in fires, and the total acreage is burned by fires,” said Marcus Hernandez, Deputy Chief for the Office of Wildfire Technology Research and Development.

So if there is any help firefighters can get, they’ll take it.

“It caught hundreds of fires before a 911 call came in,” said Hernandez.

He’s talking about artificial intelligence, the latest tool in the toolbox for fire stations all over the state and soon the country.

After a $13 million investment from Google— AI fire detection will be coming from space as the project Fire Sat gets ready to launch.

“We know we’re going to collect way more data that’s ever been …