Decentralized Artificial Intelligence through Controlled Emergence (DICE) Proposers Day

The DICE program, formally announced through DARPA-SN-26-72, aims to advance the foundational theory and algorithms for decentralized coordination and local inference control in heterogeneous AI agent collectives, enabling them to autonomously perform long-duration missions in contested environments while remaining under human oversight. Unlike traditional centralized orchestration or uncontrolled ad hoc agent compositions, DICE seeks to create scalable, adaptive, and resilient systems through controlled emergence—leveraging principles of self-organization akin to the internet’s decentralized architecture. The program emphasizes predictability and alignment with commander’s intent, ensuring collective behavior remains stable and purposeful even under adversarial conditions or agent failure. All technical validation will occur exclusively in simulation environments, with deliverables including a validated decentralized AI architecture, local inference control mechanisms, and performance demonstrations showing superiority over existing approaches. Participation in the associated Proposers Day is limited to five individuals per organization, with no more than three per organizational unit, and requires registration by May 19, 2026. Non-U.S. attendees must submit DARPA Form 60 or an official embassy visit request, along with valid identification, while all participants must avoid submitting classified material. The notice is strictly informational and does not constitute a solicitation; no contract clauses, evaluation factors, pricing details, performance periods, or award mechanisms are defined here. Formal proposals, if solicited, will be issued through SAM.gov at a later date, and any future contract will specify requirements for security clearances, organizational conflict of interest, key personnel, and technical evaluation criteria. The contracting office is located in Arlington, Virginia, under the Office of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, with administrative inquiries directed to DICE@darpa.mil.