Google has launched a new program to help organizations use artificial intelligence to solve environmental problems across Asia-Pacific. The company picked 16 groups to join its first DeepMind Accelerator: AI for the Planet.
The program began this week with a bootcamp in Singapore. It brings together startups, nonprofits, and research teams from eight countries.
Those countries include Australia, India, Indonesia, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, and Thailand. Each group is working on a different environmental challenge.
Over the next three months, participants will get access to Google's AI tools. This includes frontier models built for tasks like mapping forests, tracking wildlife, and studying land use.
Teams will also receive mentorship and technical support from Google experts. The company has not shared how much money, if any, is going directly to participants.
Protecting Wildlife and Farmland
Six of the selected groups are working on nature and climate resilience. New Zealand's 800 Trust and Listening Lab are using sound recordings to track wildlife and spot environmental threats.
Also from New Zealand, Wildlife.ai is building low-cost, AI-powered cameras for conservation work. Singapore's Kumi Analytics is combining satellite images and deep learning to measure environmental change.
South Korea's TelePIX is turning satellite data into information for tracking mangrove forests worldwide. Indonesia's Yayasan Ekosistem Lestari is building a tool that links environmental damage to disaster risk.
Five other groups are focused on farming. Indonesia's Edufarmers sends farmers real-time updates on pests, disease, and weather through messaging apps they already use.
Thailand's Living Roots is designing fertilizers based on data about specific crops. Singapore's SIGMA is building satellite models to predict crop yields.
India's Terrastack combines satellite and farm data to give detailed information about small plots of land. Australia's X-Centric has built portable X-ray equipment that tests soil without needing a lab.
Carbon Credits and City Energy
The final five projects deal with carbon markets and energy use in cities. Japan's Archeda uses satellite data to measure nature-based carbon credits.
India's Climitra Carbon applies AI to confirm when invasive plants are removed and turned into biochar. Also in India, Farmers for Forests uses drones to measure carbon and biodiversity results from small farms.
Varaha Climate, another Indian company, helps farmers earn carbon credits by verifying farming methods through satellite data. Singapore's City Syntax Lab is building a platform to manage energy and carbon use across city neighborhoods.
Many of these projects center on measuring and verifying environmental data rather than building consumer apps. Accurate data is often needed before carbon credits or conservation claims can be trusted.
Google said the accelerator is meant to help these groups get past technical hurdles as they grow. The company plans to work with the cohort through the full three-month program, which is currently underway in Singapore.
