The team, known as FLARE-X, developed a fleet of low-cost, high-performance drones powered by human-robot interaction-based AI algorithms. After catching wind of this innovative project, Larry Sullivan and Yan Llamas from the UK-based venture capital firm Leo Lion decided to support research and the team’s progression in the XPRIZE competition. The pair pooled resources with Professor Luis Sentis of the Department of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics and his wife, Dr. Adela Ben-Yakar, professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, for a combined $1.5 million investment. Together, they’ve sparked the creation of AIVE AI Systems Inc., a corporate spinoff dedicated to bringing their solutions to market by the competition’s end in 2026.
In July 2025, a team of students and faculty from UT and partnering institutions advanced to the semifinal round in the XPRIZE Wildfire’s Autonomous Wildfire Response Track. XPRIZE Wildfire is a four-year, $11 million international competition that incentivizes the innovation of firefighting technologies. The goal is to encourage the development of new technologies capable of rapidly and accurately detecting and responding to wildfires before they become destructive.