Artificial Intelligence

SBIR/STTR topic (National Science Foundation), Phase I and II. Open to U.S. small businesses; STTR projects partner with a U.S. research institution. Opens: May 22, 2026. Closes: July 7, 2027. The Artificial Intelligence topic focuses on cutting-edge technologies in the field of deep learning-based AI systems and AI-based hardware. The recent successes in computer vision, machine translation, natural-language processing and speech recognition have led to widespread use of learning-based systems in production and an unprecedented growth in AI systems that interact frequently with and/or on behalf of humans in highly personalized contexts. This topic especially emphasizes next-generation AI technologies that are not only safe and reliable but also fair, robust against sophisticated adversaries, privacy preserving, and efficient in terms of computational resources, energy, training data size, etc. It also includes cutting-edge hardware technologies needed for sustainable AI (i.e., novel devices and architectures to support the tremendous processing power needed by AI technologies), edge devices (i.e., intelligent systems on a chip for applications such as voice assistants) and AI technologies that lead to better hardware systems. These subtopics are only meant to serve as examples. All proposals that are focused on developing a new high-risk technical innovation and that have significant potential commercial and societal impact are welcome to apply, regardless of subtopic. Official solicitation: https://www.nsf.gov/funding/opportunities/small-business-innovation-research-small-business-technology/nsf26-510/solicitation