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AI Forge DARPA and NSF Program for University-Led National Security AI Research in Interpretability Control and Adversarial Robustness is sponsored by Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and National Science Foundation (NSF). AI Forge is a joint DARPA-NSF initiative, in collaboration with NIST's Center for AI Standards and Innovation (CAISI), to accelerate university-led fundamental AI research for national security.
The program focuses on AI interpretability, AI control, and adversarial robustness to develop AI that is reliable, predictable, understandable, and secure in contested environments.
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Department of War organization. DARPA and the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) have jointly developed AI Forge to catalyze breakthroughs in AI for national security, working in close collaboration with the Center for AI Standards and Innovation (CAISI) at the National Institute of Standards and Technology.
The program is focused on aligning government, academia, and industry around forward-looking foundational research to accelerate advances in AI interpretability, AI control, and adversarial robustness. AI Forge hypothesizes that pre-competitive AI research in these thrust areas can accelerate the adoption of AI innovations by industry and federal agencies.
AI Forge aims to accelerate progress towards AI that is significantly more reliable and predictable in high-stakes settings, understandable to its operators, and secure in contested environments. It also envisions building a durable research ecosystem around priority AI challenges and enabling a more robust exchange of talent and ideas across universities, frontier AI companies, and government than is possible today.
AI Forge will establish a forum – comprised of industry, university, and government participants – to identify, fund, and manage university-led research efforts aimed at challenges defined in the AI Forge Critical AI Challenges for National Security report . The forum will be administered by a nonprofit. This page will be updated with additional details as they become available.
AI Forge: Critical AI Challenges for National Security Report AI Forge: Accelerating AI breakthroughs for national security Information Processing Techniques Office
According to the current listing, eligibility includes: U.S. universities and academic institutions are encouraged to respond. Industry partners and other stakeholders may also participate. Confirm the full requirements in the official notice before applying.
The current listing shows approximately $750,000 to $3,000,000+ per one-year university-led effort. Verify award ceilings, matching requirements, and allowable costs in the official notice.
AI Forge DARPA and NSF Program for University-Led National Security AI Research in Interpretability Control and Adversarial Robustness is funded by Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and National Science Foundation (NSF). Verify program details on the funder's official page before applying.
Yes — this listing is flagged as national in scope, so applicants across the U.S. may apply, subject to the sponsor's other eligibility criteria.
Applications go through the funder's official portal — the Apply Now link on this page goes there directly.
Past winners and funding trends for this program
AI Forge Program: University Research Capabilities for Artificial Intelligence (AI) Strategic Thrusts is sponsored by Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and National Science Foundation (NSF). A jointly developed program by DARPA and NSF to catalyze breakthroughs in AI for national security, focusing on aligning government, academia, and industry around foundational research to accelerate advances in AI interpretability, AI control, and adversarial robustness.
AI Forge Program: University Research Capabilities for Artificial Intelligence (AI) Strategic Thrusts Request for Information (RFI) is sponsored by Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and National Science Foundation (NSF). A jointly developed program by DARPA and NSF to catalyze breakthroughs in AI for national security, focusing on aligning government, academia, and industry around foundational research to accelerate advances in AI interpretability, AI control, and adversarial robustness. This RFI is for university research capabilities.
AI Forge: Critical AI Challenges for National Security is sponsored by Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and National Science Foundation (NSF). AI Forge seeks to accelerate progress in AI for national security by providing university researchers with access to frontier-scale compute and models. The program focuses on foundational, forward-looking research in AI interpretability, AI control, and adversarial robustness.
DoD Multidisciplinary Research Program of the University Research Initiative (MURI) is sponsored by Department of Defense (DoD) - Office of Naval Research (ONR). The Multidisciplinary Research Program of the University Research Initiative (MURI), administered by the Department of Defense Office of Naval Research, supports basic research in science and engineering at U. S.
SBIR SF254-D1206: Knowledge-Guided Test and Evaluation Frameworks for proliferated Low Earth Orbit Constellations is sponsored by U.S. Air Force. DOD SBIR topic SF254-D1206: Knowledge-Guided Test and Evaluation Frameworks for proliferated Low Earth Orbit Constellations. Component: U.S. Air Force. Command: SDA. Solicitation: DoD SBIR 2025.4. Phase(s): D2PII, II, SPII. Status: Pre-Release. Open date: 3/4/2026.
The RFI closed June 22. Now the forum is standing up. AI Forge is a jointly governed, university-led venture funding interpretability, control, and adversarial robustness in one-year Project Ventures — here's how the 15 challenges, the CAISI tie, and the nonprofit administrator reshape who gets funded.
Read articleNSF X-Labs is unlike any NSF program in the agency's history: it runs on Other Transaction Authority, not a grant; it funds teams up to $1.5M in Phase 0 and as much as $50 million per year in Phase 1; and it demands an 8-page written proposal followed by an invitation-only oral defense in which NSF refuses to look at what you wrote. The Quantum Systems topic closes July 24, 2026. Here is what X-Labs actually is, why the structure signals a new NSF, and who is positioned to win a DARPA-style award from an agency that has never operated this way before.
Read articleOn June 1, 2026, DARPA and the National Science Foundation jointly released the AI Forge initiative — a university-only forum, administered by a nonprofit launching summer 2026, that will fund Project Ventures of roughly $750,000 to $3 million over one-year terms in three thrust areas: AI interpretability, AI control, and adversarial robustness. The RFI on SAM.gov closes June 22 at 5pm ET and is restricted to U.S. universities and military service academies, one authorized submission per institution. Intellectual property is expected to be shared across forum participants, preferably through open-source licensing. This is the most significant joint DARPA-NSF research vehicle in a decade, and it is structured to bypass the frontier-lab model entirely.
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