Coller Dolittle Challenge

for Interspecies Two-Way Communication

In May 2025, we were delighted to announce the winner of the inaugural USD$100,000 prize from the Coller Dolittle Challenge for Interspecies Two-Way Communication. The 2025 prize was been awarded to a team of US based researchers who have discovered the first evidence in dolphins of a possible language-like communication system, with shared, context-specific meanings. The details for the 2026 contest will be shared shortly.

OVERVIEW

Inspired by the Turing test, the Coller Dolittle Challenge rewards scientific research on interspecies communication algorithms.

It offers an annual $100,000 prize and a major award of either a $10 million equity investment or $500,000 in cash for a breakthrough in the field.

See our 2025 winners

Criteria

The challenge honours recent scientific work meeting these criteria:

01 – NON-INVASIVENESS

Uses a non-invasive approach to communicate with or decipher an animal’s communication.

02 – VERSATILITY

Demonstrates communication in more than one context (e.g., alarm, mating, foraging) using the animal’s endogenous communication signals.

03 – RESPONSIVENESS

Demonstrates a measurable response of the animal to the signals broadcasted to it.

Prize Money & Equity Investment

ANNUAL PRIZE

$100K

Prize Money

Through the challenge, a prize of USD$100,000 will be awarded every year until a team deciphers the secret to interspecies communication.

EQUITY INVESTMENT

$10m

or $500K cash for a breakthrough in the field.

For the successful team that ultimately cracks the code of Interspecies Two -Way Communication, a Grand Prize of either a USD$10million equity investment or a USD$500,000 cash prize will be awarded.

FURTHER DETAILS

The Grand Prize will be awarded when the animal communicates independently without recognizing that it is communicating with humans. The challenge is operated on an open access basis meaning that the data is available to the scientific community for advancement of this field of study.