Organoid Cytomorphic Intelligence Resulting from Convergent Understanding and Information Transfer (O-Circuit)

The O-Circuit program, solicited under DARPA-PS-26-28, seeks to develop a revolutionary biological processing unit capable of overcoming the power inefficiencies of traditional semiconductor-based computing in austere, edge environments, particularly for high-demand AI and ML applications. The initiative targets the transformation of neural tissue systems into integrated computational platforms by enhancing their learning, inference, and memory capabilities, aiming to establish a new paradigm for sense-compute-act functionality. This effort is structured under an Other Transaction Agreement (OTA), governed by 10 U.S.C. § 4022, bypassing standard FAR procurement rules and enabling agile, non-traditional research partnerships. The program is divided into two phases—18 months for Phase 1 and 14 months for Phase 2—with deliverables tied to clearly defined milestones, including a prototype, comprehensive milestone reports, a final technical report, and an executive summary, all to be submitted via DARPA’s VAULT system. Evaluation prioritizes deep technical comprehension of the problem space, demonstrated execution capability, and reasonable budget alignment, with awards made on a trade-off basis, not lowest price. Performance will be conducted at locations to be specified at award, with all inspections and acceptance occurring at a U.S. Government-controlled test site on the West Coast using standardized T&E protocols and provided infrastructure. Acceptance criteria are strictly metric-driven, particularly for TA2 tasks, which require odorant detection at or below 1 ppm, accurate discrimination among multiple targets, navigation to a source within 50 meters, and simultaneous multi-odorant detection. All data and deliverables must be marked with restricted use language and safeguarded per NIST SP 800-171 for CUI and CTI, with encrypted submission required for electronic proposals. Offerors must comply with extensive security, organizational conflict of interest, and disclosure requirements—including full disclosure of any prior DARPA SETA/A&AS support, adherence to export controls, and certification of small business or nontraditional defense contractor status. Participation is open only to entities registered in SAM with valid UEI and CAGE codes, and all awards are contingent upon successful completion of the Fundamental Research Risk-Based Security review process. Proposals must be submitted as an abstract via email to O-circuit@darpa.mil by May 20, 2026, adhering to an 8-page limit excluding references and optional papers, and must affirm compliance with federal laws against lobbying, drug use, discrimination, and