Pax Silica Artificial Intelligence Assistance Project

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Opportunity number
DFOP0019193
Agency
Applications due
Award size
$1,000,000 to $50,000,000

Opportunity facts

Assistance listings
Funding instrument
Cooperative Agreement
Category
  • Business and Commerce
Eligible applicants
  • For Profit Organizations
Points of contact

Opportunity details come from Grants.gov. Updated .

About this opportunity

Written by GovTribe AI ·

The Department of State Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs is soliciting cooperative agreement applications to establish a trusted supply chain credentialing and provenance platform—the Silicon Highway—securing AI supply chains in partner countries, with applications due August 20, 2026. Eligible applicants are U.S. for-profit organizations, U.S.-based nonprofits with or without 501(c)(3) status, and U.S.-based higher education institutions. The program requires cost-sharing contributions of at least $25,000; applications with in-kind or cash contributions from non-U.S. Government sources are more competitive.

Awards range from $1,000,000 to $50,000,000 with approximately $50,000,000 total available funding and 1-3 awards anticipated. The period of performance is 24 months, though projects with strong justification may extend to 36 months, with an anticipated start date of October 1, 2026. The initiative focuses on three objectives: enabling verification of goods' origin and compliance status transiting allied trade corridors; delivering a unified digital tracking tool integrating with existing customs platforms for AI infrastructure, semiconductors, and critical minerals; and accelerating logistics operations through AI-powered preclearance and Fast Lane processing. Phase 1 targets Panama with expansion to other Pax Silica partner economies—Australia, Costa Rica, Finland, Greece, India, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Kazakhstan, Norway, Philippines, Qatar, Singapore, South Korea, Sweden, Taiwan, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, and Vietnam—in Phase 2.

Review criteria emphasize project quality and feasibility (25 points), organizational capacity (15 points), project planning ability (15 points), financial capacity and cost-effectiveness (15 points), monitoring and evaluation planning (15 points), sustainability (10 points), and cost-sharing contributions (5 points). The Department will conduct technical eligibility review followed by merit panel evaluation on a 100-point scale. As a cooperative agreement, the Department maintains substantial involvement in implementation, including collaboration on project planning, stage-by-stage approval, and joint external communications. The funding falls under CFDA 19.322, Economic Statecraft.

Synopsis

Leveraging foreign assistance from the Pax Fund, this NOFO launches the Pax Silica Artificial Intelligence (AI) Assistance Project-a historic first-of-its-kind programmatic initiative to strengthen global AI supply chain security by creating a trusted supply chain credentialing and provenance platform to secure the AI supply chain in partner countries and economies. This NOFO seeks to fund the establishment of a Silicon Highway: a digital-physical corridor that accelerates logistics and compliance operations among partner countries with cryptographic cargo verification, AI-expedited risk assessment, and pre-approved expedited processing early in the supply chain. The Department maintains its rights of use to intangible property created under this project per 2 CFR 200.315.

Files

File Type Posted
Budget Template.xlsx XLSX spreadsheet
NOFO FY26 Pax Silica AI Assistance Project (1).docx DOCX document

Posting history

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