AI "Try On" and FireSat for a Sustainable Future

Not all of I/O was about consumer products. Google also highlighted technology aimed at solving global problems. I'll talk about the two that stood out the most to me, one of which was actually announced back in 2024! ( but I never got a chance to talk about it so here it is)

Google's AI "Try On" feature for apparel shopping is what made me write about the whole event in the first place. I believe that by letting shoppers upload a single photo and see garments realistically draped on their own body before they click "Buy," Google is quietly tackling one of e-commerce's dirtiest secrets: the mountains of returned clothing.

Fashion analysts estimate that 30-40 % of online apparel orders bounce back to warehouses; every round-trip means fresh packaging, extra transport emissions, and a high chance the item is routed to landfill instead of resale. If “Try On” can shave even a few percentage points off those return rates, the ripple effects are huge—less shipping fuel burned, fewer plastic sleeves and cardboard boxes, and lower write-off inventory for retailers.

Smarter AI sizing can be an emissions-reduction tool hiding in plain sight. For sustainability-minded brands (and NGOs tracking circular-economy KPIs), this is a tangible win they can champion in ESG reports: "Virtual fitting rooms prevented X tonnes of CO₂ and Y kg of packaging waste this quarter."

When you think about the staggering scale of global e-commerce - billions of packages shipping annually - even a small reduction in returns through better pre-purchase fit visualization could translate to meaningful climate impact. It's exactly the kind of tech-driven sustainability solution that doesn't require shoppers to sacrifice convenience (in fact, it enhances the shopping experience). Win-win innovations like this are what we need more of in the sustainability space.

The fact that Google is positioning this as a shopping convenience rather than primarily an eco-feature is smart marketing. Most consumers prioritize personal benefits over planetary ones when making purchase decisions. But for those of us who track sustainability metrics, this is a significant development worth celebrating and implementing across e-commerce platforms.

FireSat is an AI-powered satellite constellation for early wildfire detection. This one hits home for me; having worked on sustainability content projects and being based in Canada (where wildfire smoke has become an unwelcome summer visitor), I was keen to hear about FireSat's progress.

Google announced that the first FireSat satellite launched this spring, the start of a planned fleet of over 50 satellites. These satellites are equipped with AI vision models and infrared sensors to spot wildfires as small as 5×5 meters (about the size of a classroom) from space. To put that in perspective, current satellites often can't reliably detect fires until they're 10 times larger. And even when they do, the images might update only a couple of times a day. FireSat, by contrast, will provide high-resolution images updated every 20 minutes globally. That frequency is a game-changer – it could mean catching a fire in the first 20 minutes of ignition, versus several hours later when it's far bigger. Early detection can save lives, forests, homes, you name it.

This project is a collaboration between Google Research, climate-focused organizations, and even philanthropic funding. Google.org put in $13 million via the AI for Wildfire initiative to kickstart FireSat. The AI on these satellites will flag heat anomalies that look like fires, and send alerts to firefighting agencies on the ground. In practical use, say a lightning strike starts a small fire in a remote area – instead of waiting for a ranger's report or a large MODIS satellite pixel to light up hours later, a FireSat in orbit could ping the local authorities within minutes, with coordinates and imagery. 

For sustainability and public-good organizations, FireSat is a blueprint for how AI can help tackle climate-related challenges. It's also a great example of public-private partnership: tech companies providing expertise and infrastructure, nonprofits and gov providing domain knowledge and deployment. I suspect wildfire management agencies can integrate FireSat data into their monitoring systems. And beyond wildfires, one can imagine similar constellations for other purposes (flood monitoring, wildlife tracking, etc.) – Google's AI and cloud capabilities could turn into a kind of "planetary support service."

In the context of content (since I always circle back!), I can already see incorporating this narrative: how cutting-edge AI and satellites are being harnessed to mitigate climate disasters. It's inspiring, and frankly we need such inspiration to keep the public engaged with climate action.

On a personal note, seeing Google use its vast resources for something like FireSat gives me a warm fuzzy feeling. Yes, a lot of I/O is about shiny new gadgets and keeping us within the Google ecosystem, but projects like FireSat remind us that AI isn't just a toy, it can be a force for good. As a strategist (and a human), I'll be championing these kinds of tech solutions in conversations with clients who have corporate social responsibility goals or public-good missions.

The takeaway: AI isn't just about making money or life more convenient; it can help save the world (literally). And Google is making sure we all notice that.