Project summary

Climate change is fueling a new era of"compound disasters," where wildfires, floods, and hurricanes overwhelm our 911 systems and frontline responders. Guardian AI is building a national-scale, open-source AI platform that acts as a co-pilot for emergency command centers. By fusing real-time satellite data, social media distress signals, and live traffic patterns, it predicts disaster paths, pinpoints likely rescue locations with stunning accuracy, and optimizes resource allocation in real-time. We're not just building a tool; we're building a national shield.

What are this project's goals? How will you achieve them?

1. Develop & Train a Foundational AI Model: Create a robust, highly accurate model capable of tracking wildfires, floods, and storm surges.

2. Build a Deployable Platform: Create a user-friendly web dashboard that can be instantly adopted by county-level Emergency Operations Centers (EOCs).

3. Execute a Pilot Partnership: Fully deploy and integrate Guardian AI with the EOCs in three high-risk U.S. counties (e.g., in California, Florida, and Louisiana) for a 12-month operational pilot, providing them with unparalleled situational awareness.

How will this funding be used?

This$80,000 budget transforms the project from a prototype into a life-saving operational system.

· $35,000 - Advanced Cloud Computing & AI Training: Training sophisticated models on massive, multi-modal datasets requires significant, sustained GPU power.

· $20,000 - Specialized Data Licenses: Securing commercial-grade, high-resolution satellite imagery (e.g., Planet Labs) and critical weather data feeds for maximum accuracy.

· $15,000 - Core Team Stipends: Allowing our lead developer and data scientist to work half-time on the project for 6 months to ensure rapid, high-quality development.

· $6,000 - Platform Security & Hosting: Ensuring the system is resilient, secure, and can handle the traffic and data load of multiple EOCs simultaneously.

· $4,000 - Travel & Integration Support: Budget for the team to travel to pilot counties for on-site training, integration, and feedback collection with first responders.

Who is on your team? What's your track record on similar projects?

· Dr. Alex Chen (Project Lead): Former AI Tech Lead at Google, with a PhD in Machine Learning and a personal mission to apply AI for societal good after his family was affected by a wildfire.

· Dr. Maria Rodriguez (Head of Data Science): Specialist in geospatial analytics and climate modeling, previously at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

· Ben Carter (Head of Field Operations): A 20-year veteran and former Captain of a California wildfire hotshot crew, providing irreplaceable real-world operational expertise.

· Advisory Board: Includes a former FEMA Regional Director and a Professor of Emergency Medicine.

What are the most likely causes and outcomes if this project fails?

Without Guardian AI,emergency response remains reactive and fragmented. Commanders will continue to make life-and-death decisions with incomplete information, leading to:

· Slower Evacuations: Inefficient routing and delayed orders, putting lives at risk.

· Endangered First Responders: Fire crews and rescue teams being sent into unexpectedly dangerous zones.

· Wasted Resources: Critical assets like engines and helicopters being deployed to the wrong locations.

In an age of escalating climate disasters,failure to innovate is not an option—it costs lives and devastates communities.

How much money have you raised in the last 12 months, and from where?

Money Raised From: The initial seed capital has been committed from the personal savings and networks of the founding team. We are now seeking this $80,000 grant from Manifund to accelerate our timeline and launch our life-saving pilot program within the next 9 months.