At Tidal, we’re harnessing AI to protect our oceans and feed humanity sustainably.

Seafood is a primary source of protein for more than 3 billion people, but 90% of global fish stocks are fully used or depleted. Tidal started in 2017 with a small team eager to address climate change and the global food crisis. The ocean is a crucial asset to address both of these challenges, acting as the world’s largest carbon sink while providing essential food security for billions.

We saw an opportunity to use recent advances in sensor and machine learning technology to improve fish farming methods. We developed a system of cameras, sensors, and machine perception tools that can survive the harsh ocean environment, empowering farmers with real-time analytics and insights on their underwater operations. Our goal is to continue to develop technologies to give aquaculture – beginning with salmon and growing to include species such as yellowtail, trout, or sea bream – greater visibility for increased productivity and sustainability.

Born at Alphabet’s Moonshot Factory.

Our company, TidalX AI, began as Project Tidal at X, the moonshot factory. Our team of ocean engineers, underwater roboticists, data scientists, and aquaculture industry veterans was inspired by the opportunity to help protect ocean health. From the beginning, we partnered with leaders in the aquaculture industry to develop our technology, recognizing that to be effective in commercial conditions, our systems needed to be rigorously tested in real-world environments, not just in a lab.

From a kiddie pool to the Arctic Circle

The earliest tests of the Tidal system were in a kiddie pool at the X lab. As our system became more sophisticated, we brought prototypes to Norway for extensive testing—from protected fjords in the Arctic Circle, to the open ocean in the North Sea.

We observed 46 million fish, collected 28 billion data points to train our ML models, and worked with industry-leading fish farmers such as Mowi to improve our hardware and software.

Today, the Tidal system is able to continuously monitor fish while surviving rough oceanic conditions like frigid temperatures, corrosive salt water, and strong currents.

Our vision for the future extends beyond the Nordics. We have already expanded the use of our system for salmon aquaculture to all corners of the globe. What’s more, the technology building blocks we have developed are fully adaptable and scalable, and as we look ahead, this will allow us to expand into other ocean-based industries beyond blue food, including blue transportation, blue energy, and blue carbon.