SDG&E partners with Qualcomm and UC San Diego on wildfire AI project

San Diego Gas & Electric, a subsidiary of Sempra (NYSE: SRE), announced a collaboration with Qualcomm Technologies and UC San Diego's Scripps Institution of Oceanography to deploy artificial intelligence technology for wildfire and extreme weather monitoring.

The partnership, called Edge Alert Sentinel, will install AI-powered systems that process environmental data directly at monitoring sites rather than in remote data centers. The first system is being deployed on Mt. Palomar to analyze wind, weather and environmental conditions in real time.

The initiative uses ruggedized edge AI gateway platforms powered by Qualcomm's Dragonwing IQ9 processor, which features a neural processing unit capable of 100 trillion operations per second. The system will transmit monitoring data and predictive alerts to SDG&E's control center via the utility's private cellular network.

Scott Crider, President of SDG&E, said the project brings "world-class technology and science together, so intelligence lives where the risk lives — on the front lines — and communities are safer because of it."

The collaboration combines SDG&E's operational expertise and grid infrastructure, Qualcomm's AI processing capabilities, and Scripps Institution's atmospheric data and scientific research. The companies plan to evaluate the initial deployment during the upcoming Public Safety Power Shutoff season.

Frank Vernon, director of UC San Diego's Scripps Institute High Performance Wireless Research and Education Network, stated the project moves "beyond observation to predicting impact in real time — at the exact moment and place where danger emerges."

The companies plan to expand the technology to additional sites beginning next year, with a wider rollout targeted for 2027. The system is designed to reduce response delays during wildfire emergencies by processing critical data at the point of collection rather than relying on cloud-based analysis.

You May Also Be Interested In

• FTI Consulting names Jerome Nyssen senior managing director in Australia
• LiveRamp integrates with Adobe GenStudio for commerce media networks
• Faraday Future reveals robot lineup and new products at Automate