DARPA, NSF Launch AI Forge for National Security AI Research
New initiative targets interpretability, control, and security challenges to bridge gap between frontier AI and defense needs
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DARPA and the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) have launched a joint initiative, “AI Forge,” aimed at accelerating artificial intelligence research for national security and closing the gap between commercial AI development and government needs.
Developed in collaboration with the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Center for AI Standards and Innovation (CAISI), the program focuses on areas where AI progress has lagged due to limited commercial incentives but growing strategic importance for defense and intelligence applications.
As part of the launch, the agencies released a “Critical AI Challenges for National Security” report outlining 15 priority research problems across three areas: AI interpretability, AI control, and adversarial robustness.
The program brings together frontier AI companies, universities, and more than 15 Department of War and intelligence agencies to align research priorities and build a shared development roadmap. According to DARPA, the goal is to create a pre-competitive research ecosystem that accelerates innovation across both government and industry.
“We’re taking a unified approach to create breakthroughs in AI for national security,” said DARPA program manager Matthew Marge, adding that the initiative is designed to bridge commercial-scale AI development with deep academic research and mission-driven needs.
NSF Assistant Director Erwin Gianchandani said the partnership will connect frontier AI advances, academic research, and intelligence community requirements to accelerate capability development.