Open Track
The Open Track is the default way teams will compete in the AIxCC. Individuals and teams who met eligibility requirements and submitted a registration paper based on the following criteria will compete in the AIxCC Semifinals in August 2024.
To compete in AIxCC, all Teams must register and submit a registration paper via the competition website between December 13, 2023 – April 30, 2024. There is no fee for entry.
All registered teams will be entered into the Open Track by default. Eligible teams may submit additional application materials to be considered for the Small Business Track Competition.
AIxCC Registration Paper
To compete in the AIxCC Semifinal Competition, Competitors will write a Registration Paper, of no more than 5 pages, that discusses the following:
- A justification of feasibility of their CRS concept. White papers are encouraged to include supporting evidence such as:
- Publicly available evidence
- Past work
- Research results
- Other relevant supporting evidence
- The technical approach for constructing their CRS for competing in AIxCC, including:
- Specific objectives and metrics
- Risks and mitigations
- A technical plan for accomplishment of objectives
Registration Papers will not be scored, but papers that fail to satisfy the Registration Paper guidelines will not be accepted. DARPA may disqualify any team that does not meet the registration requirements.
Small Business Track Teams
The Small Business Track is designed to empower innovation and enable small businesses to compete in AIxCC. DARPA awarded to seven (7) small businesses with prizes of $1 million each.
The Small Business Track of AIxCC is a prize competition that replaced the former Funded Track, a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program.
Between AIxCC Kickoff and the ASC, Small Business Track Teams will have the opportunity to participate in additional AIxCC events and demonstrate their technology to DARPA during a virtual site visit.
Winning Small Business Track Teams
On March 11, 2024, DARPA announced the winners of the Small Business Track prize competition.
Registered Teams not awarded in the AIxCC Small Business Track Competition will be placed in the Open Track of the competition and will be considered registered. The Concept White Paper will satisfy the Registration Paper requirement. Teams who do not wish to participate in the AIxCC Open Track may email [email protected].
Registration & Judging Process
To register to compete in the Small Business Track Competition, eligible Teams visited registration.aicyberchallenge.com.
The Small Business Track Competition invited all eligible small businesses to complete a Concept White Paper outlining their knowledge, skills, capabilities, and approach for this challenge.
The Concept White Paper comprised two parts:
- Abstract: Competitors wrote a one (1) page abstract that describes a technical concept Cyber Reasoning System (CRS) for the AIxCC.
- White Paper: Competitors wrote a white paper, of no more than 20 pages, that discusses the following:
- A justification of feasibility of their CRS concept. White papers are encouraged to include supporting evidence such as:
- Publicly available evidence
- Past work
- Research results
- Other relevant supporting evidence
- The technical approach for constructing their CRS for competing in AIxCC, including:
- Specific objectives and metrics
- Risks and mitigations
- A technical plan for accomplishment of objectives
- The open-source strategy for their CRS should their Team advance past the ASC (in accordance with the Open-Source Requirement described in 3.5). This plan should:
- Identify a license approved by the Open Source Initiative (OSI) under which their CRS would be released.
- Identify any part or dependency of their expected CRS which would be exempt from the Open-Source Requirement, described in 3.5, including pre-existing intellectual property (IP) that existed prior to the AIxCC kickoff date, or external, commercial products on which the CRS may rely.
- Identify any risks in their open-source strategy and describe mitigations.
- A justification of feasibility of their CRS concept. White papers are encouraged to include supporting evidence such as:
Concept white paper submissions will be evaluated and ranked using the following scoring criteria:
- Abstract – (10%)
- White Paper – (80%)
- Justification of feasibility – (35%)
- Technical Approach – (35%)
- Open-source strategy – (10%)
- Proposal Quality – (10%)
The Concept White Paper and the Technology Review Contest were judged by a panel of Government subject matter experts and judges based on the above scoring criteria.
Eligibility
In addition to the general eligibility requirements of AIxCC (refer to Section 2.2 of the Rules), Teams competing in the Small Business Competition must satisfy the following requirements. Teams must be:
- A U.S. Entity, defined as a private entity incorporated in and maintaining a primary place of business within the United States; see 15 U.S.C. § 3719(g)(3).
- A small business in accordance with Small Business Administration guidance under 13 C.F.R. § 121.201; or any U.S. Entity that meets the requirements of 13 C.F.R. § 121.201 and agrees to register as a small business if eligible to participate in this competition.
- Within the size standard by North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code 541715 as noted in 13 C.F.R. § 121.201 (https://www.sba.gov/document/support-table-size-standards).
- Registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) and have or obtain an active Commercial and Government Entity (CAGE) code (https://cage.dla.mil/); or agree to register in SAM and obtain an active CAGE code if eligible to participate in this competition.
Learn more about the Small Business Track Teams.
Team Trail of Bits
Team SIFT
Team Shellphish
Team Panacea
Team 42-b3yond-6ug