DESCRIPTION

The U.S. Army invites interested Artificial Intelligence (AI) focused businesses to participate in the xTech AI Grand Challenge, a competition for eligible businesses across the U.S. to engage with the Department of Defense (DoD), earn prize money, participate in a business accelerator program and potentially submit for follow-on contract efforts.

The Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology (ASA(ALT)) is partnering with the Program Executive Office Intelligence, Electronic Warfare & Sensors (PEO IEW&S) to deliver the xTech AI Grand Challenge. The Army recognizes that the DoD must enhance engagements with businesses across the U.S. by (1) understanding the spectrum of world-class technologies being developed commercially that may benefit the DoD in the AI space; (2) integrating the sector of non-traditional innovators into the DoD Science and Technology (S&T) ecosystem; and (3) providing expertise and feedback to accelerate, mature, and transition technologies of interest to the DoD.

The xTech AI Grand Challenge will consist of three rounds:
(1) Call for concept white papers;
(2) Testing; and
(3) Final demonstration.

The competition will award up to $2,000,000 in cash prizes to selected participants. Up to 20 finalists will receive a cash prize of $25,000 each and an invitation to pitch their innovative technology solutions to a panel of Army and DoD subject matter experts (SMEs) during an in-person event in August 2025. The competition will select up to six (6) final winners who will receive a cash prize of first place: $500,000; second place: $300,000; third place: $150,000; fourth place: $75,000; fifth place: $50,000; and sixth place: $25,000. Details on the prize structure are listed in the announcement below.

In addition to non-dilutive cash prizes, participants will have the opportunity to engage with Army and DoD representatives through information-sharing and networking opportunities. Finalists will be entered into an optional accelerator to receive education, mentorship and strategic exposure to assist in growing their companies for DoD and commercial use.

The efforts described in this notice are being pursued under the authorities of 10 U.S.C. § 4025 to award cash prizes and 10 U.S.C. § 4022 (Prototype Projects) recognizing advanced technology achievements in the field of AI.

While the authority of this program is 10 U.S.C. § 4025, the xTech AI Grand Challenge may generate interest by another U.S. Army, DoD or United States Government (USG) organization for a funding opportunity outside of this program (e.g., submission of a proposal under a Broad Agency Announcement). The interested organization may contact the participant to provide additional information or ask for a request for proposal in a separate solicitation. Finalists of the prize competition may be invited to submit a separate proposal for further development of their proposed technology solution based on the needs of the Army. The Army may use a contract mechanism of their choice and will notify the participants accordingly.

All xTech AI Grand Challenge submissions are treated as privileged information, and contents are disclosed to government employees or designated support contractors only for the purpose of evaluation and program support.

The xTech Program will provide feedback from evaluators to participants during each part of the competition. The purpose of providing this feedback is to accelerate transition of the technology to an Army end-user by providing insight on best applications for the technology, suggestions for product improvement for Army use and recommended next steps for development. However, the government may not respond to questions or inquiries regarding this feedback.

Topics and Problem Statements

The xTech AI Grand Challenge is seeking cutting-edge technology solutions focused on the importance of preparing data for AI applications and the tools and techniques available from industry to automate and streamline the process. The competition will present an opportunity for Army organizations to see first-hand the challenges of data preparation for AI and the benefits from partnering with industry for data-oriented solutions. By automating and streamlining the data preparation process, organizations can save time, reduce costs, and improve the accuracy and performance of their AI applications.

The focus areas will be supplemented with Army data curated for specific AI use cases identified by Project Linchpin. The competition seeks technology solutions that fit within one of the following topic areas:

• Automated Data Verification and Validation
  • Understanding the importance of data verification and validation in AI applications.
  • Exploring the latest tools and techniques for automated data verification and validation, such as data profiling, data cleansing, and data normalization.
  • Discussing the benefits and limitations of these tools and techniques, and how to choose the right ones for different use cases.
• Data Augmentation and Feature Engineering
  • Exploring the role of data augmentation and feature engineering in preparing data for AI.
  • Discussing the latest techniques for data augmentation, such as image rotation, translation, and flipping, and feature engineering, such as one-hot encoding, binning, and polynomial features.
  • Providing practical guidance on how to apply these techniques to improve the quality and quantity of data for AI applications.

Reference Material

The DoD is currently in the process of developing their MLOps (Machine Learning Operations) API. MLOps is the practice of streamlining and automating the deployment and maintenance of machine learning models in production environments, from data ingestion all the way to model monitoring and feedback. While many tools and frameworks exist for creating MLOps workflows, there is currently no open API standard to ensure integrity, openness, and modularity among the different stages of the pipeline. Developing an open MLOps API encourages improved options for pipeline and component transparency, along with efficient replaceability and better cybersecurity as well as long-term solution sustainment. Below is the link to the draft MLOps API that is currently under development. You can use this as a reference as you develop your white paper.

https://github.com/MLOps-OpenAPI

SCHEDULE AND PRIZES

ELIGIBILITY

Eligible entities include U.S. based nonprofit organizations, for-profit organizations (i.e., large and small businesses) only.

Each eligible entity:

• Shall be incorporated in, and maintain, a primary place of business in the U.S.;
• Shall not be a U.S. Federal government entity or employ a U.S. Federal Employee acting within the scope of their employment;
• Shall not be currently under contract, agreement or other providing similar capabilities to the Government for work described in the problem statement;
• Must have or be able to obtain a CAGE code if selected to advance in the competition (instructions on how to obtain a CAGE code can be found on the xTech AI Grand Challenge registration page); and
• Shall be at the sole discretion of the Government.