Smoke-spotting AI watches live video to find early signs of wildfire

When a wildfire started in California’s Kern county recently, firefighters were able to reach the site in their fire trucks even before someone called 911. That speedy response was thanks in part to artificial intelligence that spotted the early telltale signs of smoke on a live video feed.

In a year of record-breaking wildfires in North America, California is turning to an AI tool that could speed up wildfire detection and help prevent blazes from growing out of …