Future Program: Organoid Cytomorphic Intelligence Resulting from Convergent Understanding and Information Transfer (O-CIRCUIT)
Overview
Buyer
Place of Performance
NAICS
PSC
Set Aside
Original Source
Timeline
Qualification Details
Fit reasons
- NAICS alignment with historical contract wins in similar service areas.
- Scope strongly matches core technical capabilities and delivery model.
Risks
- Past performance thresholds may require one additional teaming partner.
- Potential clarification needed on staffing minimums before bid/no-bid.
Next steps
Validate eligibility requirements, assign capture owner, and schedule partner outreach to confirm teaming strategy before submission planning.
Quick Summary
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Biological Technologies Office (BTO) has issued a Special Notice for its forthcoming Organoid Cytomorphic Intelligence Resulting from Convergent Understanding and Information Transfer (O-CIRCUIT) program. This notice provides public notification of additional research areas of interest, aiming to develop unconventional biological processing units (BPUs) for edge learning and inference with minimal power draw. The official solicitation will be released later on SAM.gov.
Program Overview
The O-CIRCUIT program seeks to address the significant energy requirements of modern AI computation at the edge by developing BPUs that mimic natural neural structures. These BPUs are envisioned to provide calibrated synthetic intelligence for training, compute memory, and sensing, with power consumption as low as mWh/day. The program will establish a platform combining organoid and synthetic biological intelligence to perform complex training and inference tasks.
Key Research Areas
The program outlines two primary Task Areas:
- Task Area 1 (TA1) "Architecture": Focuses on building BPUs with enhanced learning capabilities, exploring architectural complexity, circuitry, health, and cell composition. A key objective is for the BPU to achieve human-level proficiency in video game play with minimal power.
- Task Area 2 (TA2) "Action": Concentrates on developing and testing a biological olfactory sensor system integrated into a BPU. This system would enable drone navigation and biocompute-based chemotaxis, with the BPU detecting odorants and directing an unmanned drone.
Program Structure & Timeline
- The O-CIRCUIT program is planned as a 42-month effort, structured into three phases:
- Phase 1: 18 months
- Optional Phase 2: 12 months
- Optional Phase 3: 12 months
- Proposed approaches can address either one or both Task Areas.
- Performers will be required to participate in capability demonstrations at the conclusion of each phase.
- This is a Special Notice and not a formal solicitation. The official solicitation will be made available at https://sam.gov/.
Engagement & Contact
Interested parties are encouraged to sign up for a blast list to receive updates on future announcements, Proposers' Days, and the official solicitation publication. DARPA also offers DARPAConnect as a resource for new businesses.
- Contact: Dr. Jeffrey Zaleski, DARPA/BTO
- Email: O-CIRCUIT@darpa.mil
- Published Date: March 3, 2026