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 applications for the Pax Silica Artificial Intelligence Assistance Project cooperative agreement, a $50 million initiative to establish supply chain credentialing and provenance platforms for AI goods transiting allied trade corridors, with applications due August 20, 2026.

Eligible applicants are U.S. for-profit organizations, U.S.-based nonprofits and nongovernmental organizations, and U.S.-based institutions of higher education. Cost sharing of at least $25,000 qualifies for five bonus evaluation points; no cost share is mandatory. Individual awards range from $1 million to $50 million. The Department will fund multiple awards totaling $50 million. Projects are expected to perform over 24 months, extendable to 36 months with strong justification, with anticipated start date October 1, 2026.

Phase 1 pilots the project in Panama. Phase 2 expands to other Pax Silica partner countries including 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. Applicants must propose potential Phase 2 target countries with supporting rationales; the Department determines final Phase 2 beneficiaries following Phase 1 success. Applications must address both phases.

Core objectives are enabling verification of origin, custody, and compliance status of AI supply chain goods; providing a unified digital trust layer across mineral extraction, semiconductor fabrication, logistics, and deployment; and accelerating logistics and compliance through cryptographic cargo verification and AI-expedited risk assessment with expedited "Fast Lane" processing for vetted shipments.

Evaluation criteria total 100 points: Quality and Feasibility (25), Organizational Capacity (15), Project Planning (15), Financial Capacity and Cost Effectiveness (15), Monitoring and Evaluation Plan (15), Sustainability (10), and Cost Sharing (5). The Department maintains rights of use to intangible property created under the project per 2 CFR 200.315. This opportunity is funded under Economic Statecraft (CFDA 19.322).

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 (1).xlsx XLSX spreadsheet
NOFO FY26 Pax Silica AI Assistance Project (2).docx DOCX document
EEB NOFO DFOP0019193 Q&A (1).pdf PDF

Posting history

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