Special notice
Decentralized Artificial Intelligence through Controlled Emergence (DICE) Proposers Day
DARPA-SN-26-72
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Def Advanced Research Projects Agcy. Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (except Nanotechnology and Biotechnology).
Response deadline
May 19, 2026 at 5:00 PM EDT
Closed 121 days ago. Posted April 29, 2026, first published April 28, 2026. Scheduled to archive May 30, 2026.
Description
As published on SAM.gov.
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.
Publications
Every notice SAM.gov issued under this solicitation number, oldest first. Each is a separate record on SAM.
Points of contact
- Solicitation CoordinatorDICE@darpa.mil
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