Attachment 2 SECTION L _INSTRUCTIONS_CONDITIONS_AND NOTICES TO QUOTERS.pdf

ADDENDUM TO FAR 52.212-1 INSTRUCTIONS TO OFFERORS—COMMERCIAL ITEMS

FAR provision 52.212-1, Instructions to Offerors—Commercial Products and Commercial Services, applies to this acquisition. The provision is amended as follows:

(a) General Instructions

1. Notice Regarding SF1449, Block 27a: Quoters are advised that Block 27a of the Standard Form 1449 (SF1449) contains a standard reference indicating that FAR 52.212-3 and FAR 52.212-5 are attached. These references are part of the pre-printed form and have not been updated to reflect recent changes to the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR).

Be advised that FAR 52.212-3 and FAR 52.212-5 have been removed from the FAR and are not applicable for this solicitation. Quoters shall disregard the reference to FAR 52.212-3 and FAR 52.212-5.

2. Solicitation Overview: This Request for Quotation (RFQ) is for GPU compute commercial services. The Government intends to award a single Firm-Fixed-Price (FFP) contract with a 5-month base period and 5-month option period. This procurement is conducted under Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 12, Acquisition of Commercial Products and Commercial Services.

3. Quotation Submission: Quotations must be submitted electronically to NODES@darpa.mil no later than the date and time specified in the solicitation. All submissions must be in Adobe PDF or Microsoft Office compatible formats. The quote shall be current and valid for a minimum of 90 days.

4. Questions: All questions regarding this solicitation must be submitted electronically to NODES@darpa.mil no later than April 24, 2026, at 5:00 PM EST.

5. Amendments: Quoters must acknowledge all solicitation amendments with their quote submission.

(b) Quotation Format

The quotation submission shall not exceed the below page limitations and shall be separated into three (3) distinct volumes as described below.

Volume Title Page Limit

I Technical 10 Pages

II Price No Limit

III Administrative No limit

• The quotes will be setup on US letter sized (8 1/2" x 11") pages except for charts, tables, or diagrams, which may not exceed 11" x 14".

• A page is defined as one face of a sheet of paper if it were printed and containing information.

• Text shall not be less than 11 point, Times New Roman font.

• Pages in excess of the page limit shown below will not be evaluated.

VOLUME I – TECHNICAL QUOTE

The technical quote must be clear, coherent, and provide sufficient detail for evaluation. Do not include any pricing information in the Technical Volume. The technical quote shall address the following:

Technical Capability (Go/No-Go Requirements)

Quoters shall provide a clear statement of compliance and concise supporting documentation for each of the following mandatory requirements:

Requirement Required Documentation/Narrative

1. Availability Confirm that the full quantity of 50 GPUs described in Section 5 of the technical specifications will be provisioned, tested, and available for Government use no later than May 15, 2026.

2. Security Provide a copy of a current SOC 2 Type II certification. Confirm that NO data centers where services will be provided are located in adversarial nations.

3. GPU Hardware & Capacity

Confirm the offer of dedicated access to a minimum of fifty (50) NVIDIA HGX H100 80GB 700W SXM5 8X GPUs, equivalent or better (NVIDIA Blackwell architecture, including the B200 and GB200 platforms. This ensures NODES has access to the most advanced technology for its complex, next-generation AI workloads.). In addition, confirm the immediate availability of at least one hundred (100) additional, identical GPUs held in reserve for redundancy and surge purposes. Provide manufacturer specifications for the proposed GPUs. If offering an equivalent, provide detailed benchmark data.

Software tweaks that allow a little older GPUs to perform specific applications as fast as newer GPUs are also welcome as part of the solution.

4. Storage Confirm the provision of at least 550TB of Network File System (NFS) storage accessible by the compute environment.

Factor 1 – Technical Approach

The quoter shall describe its technical approach in the following areas:

• GPU Hardware: While the minimum requirement is for a GPU equivalent to the NVIDIA H100, the Government places a high value on access to the most advanced technology.

Quoters are encouraged to propose solutions based on the NVIDIA Blackwell architecture (e.g., B200, GB200). Usability of the GPUs can be highlighted in the proposal by showing benchmarks with AI/ML applications. Software tweaks that allow a little older GPUs to perform specific applications as fast as newer GPUs are also welcome as part of the solution. Proposals including Blackwell or superior architectures should clearly identify this within their technical submission to ensure consideration under the evaluation criteria outlined in Section M.

• System Reliability & Redundancy: Describe your approach to maintaining system reliability and uptime. Detail any redundant hardware offered that exceeds the minimum requirements, including your approach to on-demand component replacement, failover processes, and specific uptime guarantees.

• Network Performance: Describe the network architecture, including the high-speed interconnects (e.g., NVLink, InfiniBand) used between GPUs and nodes. Provide specific metrics on inter-GPU and node-to-node bandwidth to demonstrate low-latency performance for multi-GPU training workloads.

• Support & Administration: Describe your tiered support structure (24/7/365 Tier 1 and

Tier 3), providing the associated Service Level Agreement (SLA) that details response and resolution times. Explain your capability to manage users and performers, and describe the features and granularity of the usage reports you provide.

• Data Center Location: Identify the country of all data centers where services will be provided. While quotes will not be disqualified for using data centers in allied nations, the Government's evaluation will give preference to solutions hosted entirely within the

United States and its territories.

• Implementation & Onboarding: Provide a high-level plan detailing the steps to ensure services are fully operational by the May 15, 2026 deadline, including user account provisioning, system hand-off, and a notional timeline with key milestones.

Factor 2 – Past Performance The quoter shall provide a list of up to three (3) relevant contracts from the past three (3) years for services of a similar scope, size, and complexity. Each reference shall not exceed one (1) pages in length. Pages submitted in excess of this limit for any given reference will not be evaluated.

For each reference, provide:

• Contract Number

• Client Name (Agency/Company)

• Point of Contact (Name, Email, Phone)

• Total Contract Value

• Brief Description of Services Provided

For the purpose of this solicitation, a relevant contract is defined as one that is similar in scope, size, and complexity to the requirements of this RFQ. The Government will determine the relevance of the information provided.

Similar Scope: The contract involved providing High-Performance Computing (HPC), GPU-as-a-Service, or large-scale, dedicated cloud compute environments for scientific or AI/ML workloads.

Similar Size: Involved the management of at least 25 high-end GPUs.

Similar Complexity: The contract included managing multiple user groups or tenants, providing a high-availability/high-uptime environment (e.g., SLAs > 99.5%), and providing direct technical support to end-users.

VOLUME II – PRICE QUOTE

Factor 3 – Price

The Price Quote shall contain all pricing information.

• A completed price schedule. Pricing shall be quoted as a single, all-inclusive per-GPU-hour rate that covers all hardware (compute, storage, networking), power, cooling, maintenance, support, and installation for the base and option periods.

VOLUME III– ADMINISTRATIVE

This volume contains administrative items required for the Government to determine a quoter's responsibility and eligibility for award. The Government will review these documents for completeness. This volume shall not contain any pricing information and will include:

• A completed SF 1449, signed by an authorized representative of the quoter.

• Administrative Information: Quoter's Point of Contact, CAGE Code, and Unique Entity

ID (UEI).

• Acknowledgment of any and all solicitation amendments.