UC Berkeley scientist Dr Julie Elie won the 2026 Coller-Dolittle prize for decoding the 11 core calls of the zebra finch and demonstrating two-way interspecies communication. The prize, launched in 2024 by the Jeremy Coller Foundation with Tel Aviv University, provides annual funding toward a $10 million grand prize aimed at enabling clear two-way human-animal communication. Elie’s decade-long study identified the meanings of finch calls, showed that individual signatures allow recognition, and used machine learning to analyse thousands of recordings. In experiments, finches learned to tap a button after hearing calls that led to seed rewards and later selected calls indicating a desired outcome, indicating they understood the meaning of the calls. Other shortlisted teams examined identity cues in African striped mice, sequencing in bonobos, and vocalizations in chimpanzees. Prof Yossi Yovel of Tel Aviv University called the work a key moment in the field. Prof Jonathan Birch of the London School of Economics said the research demonstrated rigorous experimental design. Jeremy Coller said he expects AI acceleration to make full two-way communication achievable by 2030.