R&D LLM Foundational Model Alignment
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
Brookhaven Science Associates (BSA), under the Department of Energy, is conducting market research via a Sources Sought/Request for Information (RFI) for Research and Development (R&D) services in Large Language Model (LLM) Foundational Model Alignment. This effort is for the DOE ASCR-funded NeuroX-Fusion project, aiming to construct a unified, multimodal foundation model of the human brain. The anticipated NAICS code is 541715, Artificial Intelligence Research and Development Laboratories or Services, with a size standard of 1,000 employees. Responses are due April 29, 2026.
Scope of Work
BSA seeks sources capable of providing assembly services as defined in the attached Draft Statement of Work (SOW). The NeuroX-Fusion project aims to integrate MRI, electrophysiology, video, and language using an LLM as a shared semantic space to create a 130B-parameter "digital twin" of the human brain. The work is organized into three major task areas:
- LLM-Foundation Model Alignment: Designing strategies, benchmarks, and validation for NeuroX foundation models to learn neurally and cognitively plausible latent representations when aligned to an LLM under naturalistic stimuli.
- Neuroscience-Aligned Pretraining Objectives: Designing and prototyping objectives that encode realistic constraints from human communication and brain dynamics into NeuroX-MRI, NeuroX-Ephys, and NeuroX-Fusion training.
- Prototyping, Datasets, Benchmarks, and Hackathon: Providing concrete datasets, benchmarks, pipelines, and a hackathon to operationalize the alignment and pretraining tasks, accelerating integration with early NeuroX checkpoints. The period of performance is twenty-four (24) months from the subcontract start date.
Contract & Timeline
- Type: Sources Sought / Request for Information (RFI) – This is not a solicitation.
- Anticipated NAICS: 541715, Artificial Intelligence Research and Development Laboratories or Services
- Size Standard: 1,000 employees
- Set-Aside: None specified; BSA reserves the right to consider a small business set-aside for any subsequent acquisition.
- Response Due: April 29, 2026, at 8:00 PM ET
- Published: March 30, 2026
Submission Requirements
Interested respondents must submit a Statement of Capabilities (SOC) electronically to jblood@bnl.gov. The SOC should demonstrate the ability to meet SOW requirements and include:
- Company name, address, SAM UEI number.
- Point of contact with email and telephone number.
- Business size (large, small business, etc.) using the specified NAICS code.
- Confirmation of capability and interest in fulfilling all specifications.
- Confirmation of U.S. manufacture for end items, if applicable, and whether it meets FAR 25.101(a) definition.
- Specification if the proposed end item is a commercial product per FAR 2.101.
- Confirmation of SAM.gov registration and UEI.
- Any feedback concerning the draft SOW or other documents. Do not include marketing material or merely reiterate SOW objectives.
Additional Notes
This notice is for market research and planning purposes only. BSA anticipates a noncompetitive acquisition unless additional sources are identified. This is not a commitment to issue a solicitation or award a contract. Any costs incurred by responders are voluntary and will not be reimbursed.