How to Track Santa Claus This Christmas Eve Using AI

If you’re a parent with young children, you’ll likely hear this question many times on Christmas Eve: “Where’s Santa right now?” Thanks to popular tracking tools like the NORAD Santa Tracker and Google’s Santa Tracker, families can follow Father Christmas as he travels around the world. This year, new AI-powered features are also helping bring even more holiday magic.

Here’s how to track Santa’s journey this Christmas Eve with the help of AI.

Track Santa Claus with NORAD

NORAD (North American Aerospace Defence Command) launched the world’s first Santa tracker in 1955. What began as a simple animation of Santa’s sleigh flying across a map has evolved into a feature-rich experience. Today, the NORAD Santa Tracker includes mini-games, videos, holiday stories, and Christmas music.

Recently, NORAD partnered with OpenAI to introduce new AI-powered tools. These include an image generator that turns selfies into animated elf characters, a toy idea generator that converts suggestions into printable colouring-book pages, and a fill-in-the-blank storytelling feature that lets families personalise holiday stories with names and places.

Image Credits: NORAD

Unlike earlier versions, the NORAD Santa Tracker now features a 3D visual representation of Santa’s journey, built using Caesium’s open-source 3D mapping library. The tracker also uses Bing Maps satellite imagery to create a more realistic view of the globe.

In addition to tracking Santa’s route, users can watch “Santa Cam” videos showing how Santa delivers presents worldwide. NORAD’s website also features Santa’s North Pole Village, which includes a holiday countdown, arcade-style games, kid-friendly music, an online library, and festive videos available on NORAD’s official YouTube channel.

The NORAD Santa Tracker is accessible at noradsanta.org or through the official NORAD Tracks Santa Claus app on Apple’s App Store and the Google Play Store. The website is available in English, Chinese, French, Spanish, Japanese, German, Italian, and Portuguese.

Families can also follow Santa via NORAD’s social media accounts on Facebook, Twitter/X, and Instagram. For a more personal touch, users can call 1-877-HI-NORAD (1-877-446-6732) to speak with a volunteer who can provide real-time updates on Santa’s location.

Track Santa Claus with Google

Google’s Santa Tracker, launched in 2004, offers another way to follow Santa’s journey. The site features a live map showing Santa’s current location, next destination, estimated arrival times, a live video feed, total distance travelled, and the number of presents delivered.

Throughout December, Google’s tracker operates as Santa’s Village, where users can play mini-games, take quizzes, watch animated videos, and explore interactive activities. Kids can build their own elf using the “Elf Maker” game, host a concert with “Elf Jamband,” or learn basic coding skills through fun tutorials like “Code Boogie.”

Google Assistant also helps users stay updated on Santa’s whereabouts. By asking questions like “Hey Google, where’s Santa?” or “What’s new at the North Pole?” families can listen to the North Pole Newscast and even place a call directly to Santa.

This story was updated after publication.