Decentralized Artificial Intelligence through Controlled Emergence (DICE)
Closed Posted
- Opportunity number
- HR001126S0010
- Agency
-
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
Department of Defense
- Applications due
- Award size
- Not on record
Opportunity facts
- Assistance listings
- Funding instrument
- Cooperative Agreement, Procurement Contract
- Category
-
- Science and Technology and other Research and Development
- Eligible applicants
-
- Other
- Points of contact
- Full announcement
Opportunity details come from Grants.gov. Updated .
About this opportunity
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is soliciting applications for the Decentralized Artificial Intelligence through Controlled Emergence (DICE) program to develop theory and algorithms enabling scalable, adaptive, and resilient collectives of heterogeneous AI agents that autonomously execute sustained long-time-horizon missions in contested environments while remaining under human control, with proposals due August 25, 2026. Applicant types are restricted to "Other" per the solicitation categorization; eligible performers under Broad Agency Announcement HR001126S0010 include educational institutions, nonprofit organizations, and commercial firms through cooperative agreements, procurement contracts, and Other Transaction agreements for research and prototype development.
The 36-month program comprises three technical areas: TA1 (peer-to-peer coordination and distributed consensus), TA2 (role coherence and local inference control), and TA3 (testing and evaluation). Proposers must address TA1 and TA2 together or pursue TA3 alone; organizations selected for TA3 are ineligible to perform TA1/TA2 work. Work is performed at the unclassified level for TA1 and TA2, with TA3 at unclassified and Controlled Unclassified Information levels.
Phase 1 (9 months) evaluates DICE against state-of-the-art centrally orchestrated systems with performance targets of 500 agents and 5,000 interactions; Phase 2 (15 months) emphasizes adversarial robustness with team-versus-team competitions and down-select; Phase 3 (12 months) focuses on scalability to 100,000 agents and 1 million interactions with final leaderboard evaluation. Evaluation criteria include scientific and technical merit, technical qualifications, DARPA mission relevance, technology transition capability, and cost realism. The program mandates Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification Level 1 for TA1/TA2 performers and Level 2 for TA3 performers at proposal submission.
Abstracts are due June 30, 2026 at 2:00 PM ET; questions close August 18, 2026 at 2:00 PM ET. The program anticipates multiple awards with open-sourced research and Government Purpose Rights retained in all deliverables.
Synopsis
The DICE program seeks to develop the theory and algorithms for decentralized coordination and local inference control to enable a scalable, adaptive, and resilient collective of heterogeneous AI agents that can autonomously execute sustained long-time-horizon missions in contested environments while remaining under human control. In contrast to small-scale, rigid, and fragile centralized orchestration or the high-risk unpredictable nature of ad hoc compositions of AI agents, DICE aims to harness the scalability and adaptability of self-organizing systems while minimizing risks and ensuring that the collective behavior remains predictable and aligned with intended outcomes. This approach mirrors the principles of decentralized self-organization that underpin the internet's own scalability and resilience, where robust global behavior emerges from simple, local rules.
Files
| File | Type | Posted |
|---|---|---|
| HR001126S0010-Amendment-01.pdf | ||
| DICE_CUIG_APR_2026_v1.0.pdf | ||
| Associate_Contractor_Agreement.docx | DOCX document | |
| CF_Other_Support_Sample.docx | DOCX document | |
| CF_Other_Support.pdf | ||
| CF_Biographical_Sketch_Sample.docx | DOCX document | |
| CF_Biographical_Sketch.pdf | ||
| P4_-_DARPA_Standard_Cost_Proposal_Spreadsheet.xlsx | XLSX spreadsheet | |
| P3_-_DICE_Proposal_Summary_Slide_Template.pptx | PPTX presentation | |
| P1_-_DICE_Volume_I_Template.docx | DOCX document | |
| P2_-_DICE_Volume_II_Template.docx | DOCX document | |
| HR001126S0010.pdf | ||
| A1_-_DICE_Abstract_Template.docx | DOCX document |
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