DARPA AI Forge Cycle 2 Project Ventures

DARPA AI Forge Cycle 2 Portal

All applications for this internal competition must be submitted via InfoReady. You can sign in using your Net-ID and your @stonybrook.edu email address. Please allow sufficient time to familiarize yourself with the portal prior to submitting your pre-application. Pre-application requirements are listed in the announcement below.

Please note: The sponsor released the Request for Abstracts for this cycle on October 23, 2026 at 5 pm ET. We have updated this internal competition accordingly. Please read the Cycle 2 RFA and AI Forge Opportunity Notice in the DARPA AI Forge Cycle 2 Portal in InfoReady carefully before writing your pre-application.

The Office for Research and Innovation invites applications for Cycle 2 of the DARPA AI Forge program, which aims to support foundational research on emerging AI challenges and national security priorities. Stony Brook University can submit ONE application to this program. 

Please see below for details. If you are interested in applying, you must submit a pre-application via the DARPA AI Forge Cycle 2 Portal in InfoReady by Monday, October 26, 2026 at 9 am. Pre-applications for internal review and selection must be uploaded to the portal as a single PDF document.

KEYWORDS: Artificial Intelligence, National Security

WHAT DOES IT FUND: DARPA’s AI Forge Forum seeks disruptive scientific advances that make frontier AI systems interpretable, controllable, reliable, and secure in high-stakes, adversarial national security missions. Universities selected to be Project Venture performers will develop groundbreaking new ways to tackle critical AI challenges through high-impact, fast-paced research efforts. The Forum seeks aggressive, mission-relevant, moon-shot abstracts, which are aligned with the Forum’s four strategic thrust areas and associated research challenges noted below and stated within the AI Forge Critical AI Challenges for National Security Report - Cycle 2. DARPA will only consider abstracts from teams that demonstrate exceptional technical expertise, substantial relevant experience, a proven record of success in the proposed challenge area, and the organizational and technical capacity to execute research at very large scale. 

Each project abstract should only address one of these challenges. Solutions should aim to de-risk the challenge and create a viable pathway for frontier AI companies to invest in these research directions, ensuring that American AI dominance is driven by systems that are as secure and reliable as they are capable. Solutions should also demonstrate the understanding/ explainability, control, and protection/hardening of multi-agent systems, including agent swarms with dynamically coordinated behaviors.

The AI Forge Forum is particularly interested in abstracts that provide “moonshot” ideas — highly ambitious concepts that are not currently being pursued by Frontier AI Companies. Proposed solutions should target problems that are exceptionally difficult to solve yet remain scientifically and technically achievable.

Applicants must demonstrate a clear understanding of the frontier state of the art in the challenge area, show exactly what missing technical capability the proposed research establishes, and explain how their approach complements rather than duplicates frontier-lab research. Applicants must avoid topics that industry is likely to solve in the next 6-12 months.

DARPA will select up to 15 universities for Cycle 2. The final number of full proposals selected will depend on quality of pitches and funding available. DARPA expects to change the challenges each cycle to match the speed of AI. 

Please note: Intellectual Property (IP) generated from Project Ventures (awards) is intended to be shared among AI Forge forum participants, preferably under liberal open-source licensing (e.g., the MIT License). By depositing software that is potentially commercially valuable to an open source repository, Stony Brook applicants may be foregoing some personal financial gain that would come to them via the SUNY IP policy from successfully licensing the software/model to an industry partner for a fee, either exclusively or non-exclusively. Furthermore, Stony Brook applicants must distinguish any project proposed under AI FORGE from any active project that they may have with an industry partner.

THIS PROGRAM DOES NOT FUND:

• Projects that duplicate frontier-lab research.
• Projects that rely on broad claims and lack sufficient detail to show technical reasoning. 
• Topics that industry is likely to solve in the next 6-12 months. 
• Projects led by PIs who are not available to attend the in-person Pitch Day in Washington, D.C. on December 11, 2026. 
• AI-generated abstracts.

APPLICANT REQUIREMENTS: An individual may serve as PI on only one (1) Project Venture abstract submitted in response to this RFA. The PI must commit 20% or more of their time to the Project Venture. Key personnel (PIs, Co-PIs) are limited to U.S. citizens or permanent residents.

AWARD: Budget for Cycle 2 Project Ventures not to exceed $1.5M including labor, travel, subcontractors/consultants, and overhead. Separately, universities must also provide high-level compute and model resource estimates, not to exceed $1M, in the abstract submission. Project Ventures will not exceed 12 months. Note: If selected to progress to the Phase 2 Pitch and Proposal, participants must include compute contingency plans addressing both low- and high-availability scenarios. While the Phase 1 ceiling serves as the baseline, the Government may engage in discussions to scale compute allocations. Any authorization to exceed the established compute ceiling will require technical justification and is contingent upon demonstrated progress, verifiable resource availability, and program budget capacity.

COST SHARE: Not required.

SPONSOR DEADLINE: DARPA anticipates releasing cycles every six months, with an accelerated cycle 2 only. Cycle 2 abstracts are due to DARPA November 6, 2026; Pitches and full proposals due December 8, 2026; Live Pitch Day December 11, 2026 in-person in Washington, D.C. 

PRE-APPLICATION: A complete pre-application should include the following:

• Abstract (no more than 2 pages) that includes:
  • Project objective (1 sentence). Describe your proposed technology and the long-term capability it will enable using the following format: “[Project Title] will develop [technology or technical approach] to enable [long-term capability or operational impact].” Emphasize the significant new capability or lasting impact your research could achieve beyond the project’s completion, rather than immediate technical deliverables or demonstrations. Use plain language and avoid unnecessary jargon.
  • National Security Relevance and Impact. Describe the specific national security challenge or operational need your research aims to address and the potential impact of achieving the proposed scientific breakthrough. Explain how the resulting capability could improve mission effectiveness, overcome critical operational limitations, or reduce risks in realistic national security environments. Emphasize how the anticipated scientific advances would address this challenge and enable lasting capabilities beyond the project's completion, rather than focusing on immediate research outcomes or technical deliverables.

• • Technical Hypothesis. State the central scientific or technical hypothesis underlying your proposed research. Explain what you believe is possible, the scientific reasoning or technical insight supporting that belief, and why the proposed approach could overcome limitations of current state-of-the-art methods. Frame the hypothesis as a specific, testable proposition that, if validated, would establish the scientific foundation for achieving the capability described in your Project Objective. Emphasize the fundamental advance to be demonstrated rather than the technology to be developed or the project deliverables.

• • Technical Approach and Risk Analysis. What is new in your approach and why do you think it will be successful? What are the risks?

• • Breakthrough Potential. How is it done today, and what are the limits of current practice?

• • High level description of anticipated budget (not more than 1 paragraph)
    • Not to exceed $1.5M including labor, travel, subcontractors/consultants, and overhead. Travel costs should be budgeted for the 6-Month Review Day and the Final Review Day. In-person attendance is highly encouraged, though virtual participation options will be accommodated. Pre-award costs are unallowable and cannot be recouped under this opportunity. All proposed expenditures must occur post-award.
    • Note: DARPA may publicly release the front matter of selected abstracts. Additionally, applicants are discouraged from using AI to generate their abstracts, as DARPA described obviously AI-generated abstracts in Cycle 1 as “weak.”
• Compute resource estimation (no more than 1 page) 
  • • Not to exceed $1M. Separate the request by proposed project implementation phase (Phase 1: project months 1–6 and Phase 2 project months 7–12). Explain uncertainty and any contingency separately. Phase 1 should use focused studies and/or experiments to establish evidence of progress before larger, more costly studies and/or experiments. Connect each major research activity to type of resources required, unit of measure, quantities, and unit prices. 
    • Identify preferred state-of-the-art frontier models, required access and capabilities, and acceptable alternatives. Program-contributed resources may determine available models and providers. Smaller or older models require a strong scientific justification. Substantial requests are appropriate when supported by the research scope and expected scientific contribution.

• • • Participants should attempt to use free or discounted compute and model resources available through their universities. List university-provided resources.

• List of all project personnel (Role, name, average time commitment, citizenship status)
  • • Note: If approved to apply to DARPA, applicants must submit a Foreign National Justification form to the sponsor for all personnel who are foreign nationals, including permanent residents, detailing the individual's role, proving their technical expertise is critical and irreplaceable, and documenting their U.S. academic standing and residency. 
• PI's CV/Biosketch

REVIEW CRITERIA: Pre-applications will be reviewed based on how well they address the sponsor’s program objectives. Strong proposals must identify an unresolved problem, identify why current methods fall short, and present a technically credible approach as opposed to just the applications of AI. Applicants must demonstrate a clear understanding of the frontier state of the art in the challenge area and show exactly what missing technical capability the proposed research establishes. DARPA encourages applicants to explore using subcontractors or specialized partners where needed for frontier relevance and challenge-specific AI expertise, including Defense Industrial Base (DIB) or specialized companies/startups for operational contributions.