NIST Awards Over $1.8 Million to Small Businesses Advancing AI, Semiconductors, Additive Manufacturing and More
Routine US small-business R&D grants with minimal AI governance content — low priority for APS AI practitioners.
Key points
- NIST awarded $1.8 million across 18 small businesses under its SBIR program for Phase I R&D projects.
- Two of the 18 awards are AI-focused: an adversarial prompt defence algorithm and an AI safety/explainability framework.
- Limited direct relevance to APS readers; included as context on US government AI R&D funding patterns.
View original source
Copied.
"NIST Awards Over $1.8 Million to Small Businesses Advancing AI, Semiconductors, Additive Manufacturing and More"
Source: NIST Information Technology RSS
Published: 18 August 2025
URL: https://www.nist.gov/news-events/news/2025/08/nist-awards-over-18-million-small-businesses-advancing-ai-semiconductors
NIST has awarded over $1.8 million to 18 small businesses under its Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program, spanning AI, additive manufacturing, semiconductors, and other technology areas. Of the 18 Phase I awards, two are directly AI-related: AIVault Inc.'s work on defending generative AI models from prompt attacks, and ObjectSecurity LLC's framework for AI safety and explainability. Remaining awards cover manufacturing, materials science, medical imaging, and environmental remediation. Phase I projects run from August 2025 to January 2026, with eligible awardees able to apply for Phase II funding of up to $400,000.
Retrieved from SIMS, 18 July 2026.