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DARPA AI Forward is sponsored by Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Initiative to push AI frontiers including human-AI teaming and trustworthy AI systems for broader societal impact.
Official opportunity description and requirements excerpt:
An official website of the United States Government Official websites use .mil .mil website belongs to an official U.S. Department of War organization. Secure .mil websites use HTTPS ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .mil website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. Reimagining the future of artificial intelligence for national security DARPA’s Information Innovation Office Director Dr. Kathleen Fisher presents on trustworthy AI at the DARPA Forward event in Pullman, Wash., on Sept. 13, 2022. 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. To initiate AI Forward, DARPA hosted two workshops in summer 2023 at which participants brainstormed new directions for the field. Approximately 200 participants from across the commercial sector, academia, and government attended and generated ideas that inform DARPA’s next phase of AI exploratory projects, known as AI Exploration opportunities (AIEs). AIEs are a key component of the agency’s broader AI investment strategy aimed at ensuring the United States maintains an advantage in this critical and rapidly accelerating technology area. AIEs constitute 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. Researchers then work to establish the feasibility of new AI concepts within 18 months of award. Through this nimble approach to exploring new AI concepts, DARPA aims to outpace competing, global AI science and technology discovery efforts. What does it mean to be trustworthy? Despite progress in the field, AI still requires significant investment and advancement to develop technology that reliably operates, interacts appropriately with people, and meets the most pressing national security and societal needs in an ethical manner. DARPA seeks qualified researchers and experts to join the agency and help define the future of AI technology. Trustworthy AI research thrusts --> DARPA experts estimate that research in the following areas will be essential to creating trustworthy technology: Foundational theory, to understand the art of the possible, bound the limits of particular system instantiations, and inform guardrails for AI systems in challenging domains such as national security; AI engineering, to predictably build systems that work as intended in the real world and not just in the lab; and Human-AI teaming, to enable systems to serve as fluent, intuitive, trustworthy teammates to people with various backgrounds. Building on 60+ years of AI research DARPA has been generating groundbreaking research and development for 65 years – leading to game-changing military
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An official website of the United States Government Official websites use . mil . mil website belongs to an official U.
S. Department of War organization. Secure .
mil websites use HTTPS ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the . mil website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.
Reimagining the future of artificial intelligence for national security DARPA’s Information Innovation Office Director Dr. Kathleen Fisher presents on trustworthy AI at the DARPA Forward event in Pullman, Wash. , on Sept.
13, 2022. 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. To initiate AI Forward, DARPA hosted two workshops in summer 2023 at which participants brainstormed new directions for the field.
Approximately 200 participants from across the commercial sector, academia, and government attended and generated ideas that inform DARPA’s next phase of AI exploratory projects, known as AI Exploration opportunities (AIEs). AIEs are a key component of the agency’s broader AI investment strategy aimed at ensuring the United States maintains an advantage in this critical and rapidly accelerating technology area.
AIEs constitute 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. Researchers then work to establish the feasibility of new AI concepts within 18 months of award. Through this nimble approach to exploring new AI concepts, DARPA aims to outpace competing, global AI science and technology discovery efforts.
What does it mean to be trustworthy? Despite progress in the field, AI still requires significant investment and advancement to develop technology that reliably operates, interacts appropriately with people, and meets the most pressing national security and societal needs in an ethical manner. DARPA seeks qualified researchers and experts to join the agency and help define the future of AI technology.
Based on current listing details, eligibility includes: Universities, nonprofits, for-profits; California researchers eligible Applicants should confirm final requirements in the official notice before submission.
Current published award information indicates $1M - $10M Always verify allowable costs, matching requirements, and funding caps directly in the sponsor documentation.
The current target date is rolling deadlines or periodic funding windows. Build your timeline backwards from this date to cover registrations, approvals, attachments, and final submission checks.
Microsystems Technology Office (MTO) Office-wide Broad Agency Announcement (HR001124S0028) is sponsored by Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Seeks revolutionary research in microsystems engineering, including novel design and fabrication for national security applications. Application snapshot: target deadline March 2, 2026; published funding information Funding amounts vary by project scope and award track.; eligibility guidance U. S. universities and other organizations. Use the official notice and source links for final requirements, attachment checklists, allowable costs, and submission instructions before applying.
DARPA Lift Challenge is sponsored by Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). A $6. 5 million prize competition to discover groundbreaking unmanned aerial system designs with the highest payload-to-weight ratio using advanced AI and autonomous flight controls. Official opportunity description and requirements excerpt: Lift Challenge now accepting applications | DARPA An official website of the United States Government Official websites use .mil .mil website belongs to an official U.S. Department of War organization. Secure .mil websites use HTTPS ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .mil website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. Lift Challenge Now Accepting Applications Lift Challenge now accepting applications Applicants receive flight windows based on the order in which they’re accepted, so apply early The DARPA Lift Challenge is now accepting applications. We’re calling on the United States’ brightest innovators—from university labs and garage workshops to small businesses and large corporations, military services, and everyone in between—to secure their place in aviation history. This $6.5 million Challenge is a competition to discover groundbreaking designs that solve one of vertical heavy lift aviation's toughest problems: the payload-to-weight ratio. In doing so, it may provide competitors with unmatched national exposure and a legacy as a pioneer in drone technology. Today's multirotor drones are held back by their low payload-to-weight ratios, often around 1:1 or even lower. This limitation means that as mission payload requirements increase, drones become prohibitively large and expensive. The Lift Challenge seeks to shatter this barrier. Competitors’ mission is to design a drone (55 pounds or less) with the highest payload-to-weight ratio and successfully complete the demanding competition course . “This improvement would redefine vertical lift aviation, unlocking a new range of possibilities for both military and civilian applications,” said DARPA Lift Challenge Program Manager Phillip “Donna” Smith. “With the Lift Challenge, our goal is to dramatically increase the useful load and drive down the cost per pound of transported cargo. If you’ve got the vision, now’s the time to prove it.” To apply, one U.S. person or U.S.-registered entity needs to submit the team information. This person will be the official team representative. Though attendance at the competition itself will be capped to 10 per team, teams are welcome to include as many members as they'd like, including those from other countries, if they are not on the Department of State’s International Traffic in Arms Regulations restricted list . Government and military organizations can participate, but only if the government hasn't previously funded the submitted design. And if civilian, federal, or military personnel are using work hours, supplies or facilities, they must have their employer’s permission. The application itself is straightforward: team name, team representative’s name, contact details, and a logo if you have one. If you’ve got the vision, now’s the time Application snapshot: target deadline May 1, 2026; published funding information $1,000,000 - $2,500,000; eligibility guidance Small businesses, large corporations, university labs, entrepreneurs, and independent innovators. Use the official notice and source links for final requirements, attachment checklists, allowable costs, and submission instructions before applying.
Application snapshot: target deadline rolling deadlines or periodic funding windows; published funding information $1M - $10M; eligibility guidance Universities, nonprofits, for-profits; California researchers eligible
Use the official notice and source links for final requirements, attachment checklists, allowable costs, and submission instructions before applying.
Trustworthy AI research thrusts --> DARPA experts estimate that research in the following areas will be essential to creating trustworthy technology: Foundational theory, to understand the art of the possible, bound the limits of particular system instantiations, and inform guardrails for AI systems in challenging domains such as national security; AI engineering, to predictably build systems that work as intended in the real world and not just in the lab; and Human-AI teaming, to enable systems to serve as fluent, intuitive, trustworthy teammates to people with various backgrounds.
Building on 60+ years of AI research DARPA has been generating groundbreaking research and development for 65 years – leading to game-changing military capabilities as well as icons of modern society such as initiating the research field that rendered self-driving cars, and developing the technology that lead to Apple’s Siri.
Since 2018 through the AI Next campaign , we invested more than $2 billion to advance AI for national security purposes. Today, roughly 70% of DARPA’s current programs benefit from AI and machine learning technology. We’re investing in more than 30 programs aimed at the exploration and advancement of a full range of AI techniques.
These include symbolic reasoning, statistical machine learning, meta-cognition, explanation and assurance, and hybrid methods. We want to push beyond second-wave machine learning techniques toward contextual reasoning capabilities, so that machines could be more than just tools, and function as true partners. Building on the success of AI Next, the AI Forward initiative focuses on trustworthiness for these systems.
This focus will be critical to developing technology that reliably operates, interacts appropriately with people, and meets the most pressing national security and societal needs in an ethical manner.
EMHAT: Exploratory Models of Human-AI Teams FACT: Friction for Accountability in Conversational Transactions FoundSci: Foundation Models for Scientific Discovery Reimagine the Future of AI for National Security How to Create AI Technology We Can Trust | Ep 66 The DARPA perspective on AI and autonomy at the DoD | Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) | March 2024 Prepping for Future of AI Through High-Risk, High-Reward R&D | Federal News Network | March 2024 Kathleen Fisher: DARPA and AI for national security | The Gradient podcast | December 2023 Be part of a cutting-edge research and development agency that’s pushing the boundaries of what’s possible, in an energetic environment with excellent benefits.
Find your future with DARPA Careers Our program managers are visionary leaders whose experience spans industry, government, and academia. They conceive, plan, and oversee the high-risk R&D efforts for which we are best known. Research Opportunities View Programs DARPA has pushed, and will continue to push, the boundaries of technological possibility.
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