Decentralized Artificial Intelligence through Controlled Emergence (DICE)

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency seeks proposals to develop theory and algorithms for decentralized coordination and local inference control enabling scalable, adaptive, and resilient AI agent collectives capable of executing sustained long-time-horizon missions in contested environments under human control, with full proposals due August 25, 2026, at 2:00 PM ET and abstracts due June 30, 2026, at 2:00 PM ET.

The procurement is a Broad Agency Announcement with no set-aside. Proposers may pursue procurement contracts, Other Transaction Agreements for research, Other Transaction Agreements for prototype development, or Cooperative Agreements, with multiple awards anticipated. The program spans 36 months across three phases: Phase 1 (9 months) on decentralization and comparison against centralized systems, Phase 2 (15 months) on adversarial robustness with team-versus-team down-selection playoffs, and Phase 3 (12 months) on scalability.

Three technical areas are offered: TA1 (peer-to-peer coordination and distributed consensus), TA2 (local inference control for role coherence and mission alignment), and TA3 (testing and evaluation through simulation with Department of War use cases). Proposers must address TA1 and TA2 jointly or pursue TA3 exclusively; TA3 performers are ineligible for TA1/TA2 work. TA1 and TA2 work is Unclassified; TA3 work may be Unclassified or Controlled Unclassified Information. Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification Level 1 is required at proposal submission for procurement contracts; Level 2 applies to TA3 and may be required for TA1/TA2 based on CUI handling. All performers must enter Associate Contractor Agreements enabling information exchange among program participants. DARPA expects open-sourcing of research outputs while retaining Government Purpose Rights in all deliverables. Questions close August 18, 2026. The NAICS code is 541715 (Research and Development in Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences); the PSC is AC11 (National Defense R&D Services).