DARPA AI Grants

AI Forge: Accelerating AI breakthroughs for national security is sponsored by Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). A joint DARPA and NSF research and development program to catalyze breakthroughs in AI for national security, working with the Center for AI Standards and Innovation (CAISI) at NIST. It aims to accelerate progress towards AI that is significantly more reliable, predictable, understandable, and secure in high-stakes settings. The program will establish a forum of universities, industry, and U.S. government representatives to fund and manage fast-paced, university-led research projects.

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). This Request for Information (RFI) from DARPA's AI Forge Program aims to identify and leverage the artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities and research interests of U. S. universities.

AI Forge Program: University Research Capabilities for Artificial Intelligence (AI) Strategic Thrusts is sponsored by Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). The AI Forge Program seeks to identify and leverage the AI capabilities and research interests of U. S. universities to conduct high-impact, fast-paced, university-led, fundamental AI research aimed at solving "Critical AI Challenges for National Security".

Artificial Intelligence Research and Development (R&D) Program (Office-Wide BAA, Information Processing Techniques Office - IPTO) is sponsored by Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). This Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) from DARPA's Information Processing Techniques Office (IPTO) invites ideas for breakthrough technologies in information science, computing, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, and software assurance that fall outside the scope of current …

DARPA's AI Forward program advances trustworthy artificial intelligence systems for national security through AI Exploration (AIE) opportunities using streamlined contracting procedures. The program emerged from two 2023 workshops with approximately 200 participants from commercial, academic, and government sectors. AI Forward funds 18-month projects to establish feasibility of new AI concepts, with awards issued within 3 months of opportunity announcement. The program addresses three essential research thrusts: foundational theory for understanding AI system limits and guardrails, AI engineering for predictable real-world deployment, and human-AI teaming for trustworthy collaboration. Associated active programs include EMHAT, FACT, and FoundSci. DARPA has invested over $2 billion through its AI Next campaign since 2018, with approximately 70% of current DARPA programs utilizing AI or machine learning. Proposals are submitted through the DARPA R&D Opportunities portal.

AI Exploration opportunities (AIEs) (AI Forward Initiative) is sponsored by Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). DARPA's AI Forward initiative focuses on trustworthy AI systems for national security missions and explores new directions for AI research. AIEs are fast-moving funding opportunities for researchers to establish the feasibility of new AI concepts within 18 months of award.

DARPA's Artificial Intelligence Exploration (AIE) Program Announcement (DARPA-PA-25-03) constitutes a series of unique funding opportunities that use streamlined contracting procedures and funding mechanisms to achieve a start date within three months of an opportunity announcement, with researchers working to establish the feasibility of new AI concepts within 18 months of award. AIE is a key element of DARPA's broader AI investment strategy designed to maintain U.S. technological advantage in artificial intelligence research, supporting fundamental and applied R&D projects aimed at developing AI systems that function as trusted and collaborative partners in solving problems of importance to national security. Periodic AIE Opportunities are solicited through Solicitation Notices under Contract Opportunities on SAM.gov, with relatively short response windows of 30 to 45 days from announcement to abstract deadline. AIE is the most agile entry point for AI researchers with breakthrough ideas across DARPA's strategic priorities including agentic AI, AI safety and trust, multi-agent coordination, AI for cybersecurity, and AI for scientific discovery.

Artificial Intelligence Exploration (AIE) - DARPA-PA-25-03 is sponsored by Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). A series of high-risk, high-payoff projects where researchers establish the feasibility of new AI concepts within 18 months of award. It's a key component of DARPA's broader AI investment strategy to maintain a technological advantage in AI.

DARPA Artificial Intelligence Exploration (AIE) Program Announcement (DARPA-PA-25-03) is sponsored by DARPA. Constitutes a series of unique funding opportunities using streamlined contracting procedures to establish the feasibility of new AI concepts within 18 months of award, supporting fundamental and applied R&D projects aimed at developing AI systems that function as trusted and co…

AI Exploration (AIE) Program is sponsored by DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency). The DARPA AI Exploration (AIE) program supports high-risk, high-payoff projects where researchers work to establish the feasibility of new AI concepts within 18 months of award. These opportunities use streamlined contracting procedures for rapid project kick-off and are aimed at shaping a future for AI technology where machines may serve as trusted and collaborative partners in solving problems of importance to national security.

AI Next Campaign / Artificial Intelligence Exploration (AIE) Program is sponsored by Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). The 'AI Next' campaign is a multi-year investment by DARPA in new and existing programs to advance AI for national security purposes. A key component is the Artificial Intelligence Exploration (AIE) program, which funds high-risk, high-payoff projects to establish the feasibility of new AI concepts within 18 months. This includes research into explainable AI, common sense reasoning, robust and reliable AI systems, and human-machine teaming.

DARPA's AI Forward initiative explores new directions for artificial intelligence research aimed at producing trustworthy systems for national security missions, organized around three research areas: foundational theory of AI, AI engineering for reliable real-world deployment, and human-AI teaming. Funding is delivered through streamlined AI Exploration (AIE) opportunities that are periodically solicited as Solicitation Notices on SAM.gov. AIE awards are typically up to $1 million for 18-month feasibility studies, with projects required to begin within three months of the opportunity announcement and DARPA intending to make awards within roughly 90 days of posting.

Artificial Intelligence Quantified (AIQ) program is sponsored by Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). The AIQ program seeks to develop technology to assess and understand the capabilities of AI to enable guaranteed performance. Researchers will develop mathematical foundations, combined with advances in measurement and modeling, to quantify an AI system's capabilities, when they will or will not manifest, and why.

DARPA AI Cyber Challenge (Small Business Track, future rounds) is sponsored by Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). DARPA AI Cyber Challenge (Small Business Track, future rounds) is a grant from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency that funds small business teams developing AI-powered cybersecurity solutions capable of autonomously defending critical software systems.

DARPA Artificial Intelligence Exploration (AIE) Program Announcement (DARPA-PA-25-03) is sponsored by Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). The DARPA AIE program seeks to establish the feasibility of new AI concepts within 18 months of award, supporting fundamental and applied R&D projects aimed at developing AI systems that function as trusted and collaborative partners. This includes AI for scientific discovery, which could encompass aspects of drug development.

AI Exploration (AIE) opportunities (under AI Forward initiative) is sponsored by Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). AIEs are a series of unique funding opportunities under DARPA's AI Forward initiative, which focuses on developing trustworthy AI systems for national security missions. These projects are high-risk, high-payoff, and aim to establish the feasibility of new AI concepts.

AI Forward Initiative for Trustworthy AI in National Security Missions (AI Exploration Opportunities) is sponsored by Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). DARPA's AI Forward initiative explores new directions for artificial intelligence research aimed at producing trustworthy systems for national security missions. It focuses on foundational theory of AI, AI engineering for reliable real-world deployment, and human-AI teaming.

DARPA's AI Forward initiative explores new directions for artificial intelligence research that will result in trustworthy systems for national security missions. The program emphasizes three core research areas: foundational theory, AI engineering, and human-AI teaming. AI Forward operates as an umbrella initiative funding multiple specific programs including EMHAT (Embodied Human-AI Teams), FACT (Conversational Accountability), FoundSci (Foundation Models for Scientific Discovery), and the AI Next Campaign. Funding flows through AI Exploration (AIE) opportunities with streamlined contracting procedures designed to rapidly advance promising AI concepts. Awardees must begin work within three months of opportunity announcement and operate on 18-month feasibility timelines, enabling rapid exploration of high-risk, high-reward AI research directions for defense applications.

AI Exploration (AIE) opportunities under DARPA AI Forward Initiative is sponsored by DARPA. The 'AI Forward' initiative is DARPA's effort to explore new directions for artificial intelligence (AI) research that will result in trustworthy systems for national security missions. Funding flows through AI Exploration (AIE) opportunities with streamlined contracting procedures designed to rapidly advance promising AI concepts. This includes proposals in offensive and defensive cybersecurity and trustworthy AI.

AI Forward Initiative (AI Exploration opportunities - AIEs) is sponsored by DARPA. AI Forward is DARPA's initiative to explore new directions for artificial intelligence (AI) research that will result in trustworthy systems for national security missions. AIEs are unique funding opportunities for researchers to establish the feasibility of new AI concepts.

AI Exploration (AIE) is DARPA's streamlined funding instrument for rapidly testing high-risk artificial intelligence concepts, and it is the primary vehicle through which the agency's AI Forward initiative pursues trustworthy AI for national security missions. AIE opportunities use an abbreviated program announcement with simplified proposal requirements and compressed contracting timelines — DARPA's goal is to move from announcement to award in roughly 90 days rather than the many months a conventional BAA requires. Individual AIE efforts are typically capped around $1 million over an 18-month feasibility study, with successful efforts positioned to feed into full DARPA programs. AI Forward specifically targets the gap between today's statistical machine learning and the assured, explainable, context-aware AI that defense missions demand, spanning topics such as foundations of trust in AI, reasoning and world models, human-AI teaming, and defenses against adversarial manipulation. New AIE opportunities are posted continuously across DARPA's technical offices, so the practical approach is to monitor the DARPA opportunities feed rather than wait for an annual cycle.

AI Research Grants (DARPA) is sponsored by Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). DARPA funds advanced AI research in areas like machine learning and autonomous systems as part of its AI Next campaign. This includes pioneering the next generation of AI algorithms and applications, such as 'explainability' and common sense reasoning.

DARPA Artificial Intelligence Exploration (AIE) Program Announcement for Rapid AI Research is sponsored by Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). DARPA's AIE program supports high-risk, high-payoff projects that establish the feasibility of new AI concepts within 18 months. It uses streamlined contracting to accelerate research in AI systems for national security.

Artificial Intelligence Exploration (AIE) Program Announcement (DARPA-PA-25-03) is sponsored by Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). DARPA's AIE program funds high-risk, high-reward research to establish the feasibility of new AI concepts relevant to national security. It uses streamlined procedures for rapid awards. Periodic AIE Opportunities are announced with short response windows.

AI Research for National Security is sponsored by Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). This initiative funds AI research projects to enhance national defense capabilities. DARPA's AI Forward initiative explores new directions for artificial intelligence research that will result in trustworthy systems for national security missions. Focus areas include symbolic reasoning, statistical machine learning, meta-cognition, explanation and assurance, and hybrid methods, pushing beyond second-wave machine learning techniques toward contextual reasoning capabilities.

AI Research for National Security is sponsored by U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) / DARPA. This initiative funds AI research projects to enhance national defense capabilities. It includes thrusts in 'Trustworthy AI' focusing on foundational theory, AI engineering to build systems that work as intended, and human-AI teaming. While not explicitly naming 'regulation compliance', trustworthy AI implies adherence to certain standards and ethical guidelines.

Artificial Intelligence Exploration (AIE) Opportunities under AI Forward is sponsored by Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). This opportunity supports mission-aligned projects that focus on trustworthiness in AI systems, specifically how to build AI systems that reliably operate in adversarial, ambiguous, and high-stakes environments. It aims to accelerate the exploration of promising AI concepts through streamlined contracting procedures.

DARPA Artificial Intelligence Exploration (AIE) Program Announcement is sponsored by Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). DARPA's Artificial Intelligence Exploration (AIE) Program offers funding opportunities for establishing the feasibility of new AI concepts relevant to national security. It supports fundamental and applied R&D projects aimed at developing AI systems that function as trusted and collaborative partners in solving problems, including AI for scientific discovery and autonomous experimentation. FFRDCs are eligible to apply.

AI Research Grants (Various BAA Programs) is sponsored by Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). DARPA funds advanced AI research in areas like machine learning and autonomous systems as part of its 'AI Next' campaign. This includes pioneering the next generation of AI algorithms and applications, such as 'explainability' and common sense reasoning.

AI Next Campaign / Artificial Intelligence Exploration (AIE) Opportunities is sponsored by Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). DARPA's AI Next Campaign is a multi-year investment in AI research and development. It aims to pioneer the next generation of AI algorithms and applications, including those featuring 'explainability' (AI reasoning understandable by human intelligence) and common-sense reasoning.

DARPA AI Cyber Challenge is sponsored by Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). The DARPA AI Cyber Challenge (AIxCC) is a multi-year competition designed to develop AI-driven cybersecurity solutions to safeguard critical software. It offers prizes to teams that design novel AI systems to find and patch real-world cyber vulnerabilities.

AI Research Grants is sponsored by Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). DARPA funds advanced AI research in areas like machine learning and autonomous systems as part of its AI Next campaign. This includes pioneering the next generation of AI algorithms and applications, such as 'explainability' and common sense reasoning. The AI Next campaign is a multi-year investment of more than $2 billion in new and existing programs.

AI Cyber Challenge (AIxCC) is sponsored by DARPA. AIxCC is a two-year competition that brings together experts in AI and cybersecurity to safeguard critical software. Competitors will design novel AI systems to secure this code, with prizes awarded to teams with the best systems, including specific funding for small businesses.

AI Exploration Opportunities (AIEs) under AI Forward is sponsored by Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). AI Forward is DARPA's initiative to explore new directions for artificial intelligence (AI) research that will result in trustworthy systems for national security missions. AIEs are unique funding opportunities that use streamlined contracting procedures to establish the feasibility of new AI concepts. This could include research into AI for security threat detection.