Arize’s AI and agent engineering tools will be adapted to the Department of the Air Force’s secure NIPRNet environment
(Berkeley, Calif.) – Arize AI announces it has been selected by AFWERX for a Direct-to-Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract in the amount of approximately $1.2 million per year to conduct a 12‑month R&D focused effort on AI engineering capabilities for NIPRGPT / GCP AI enhancement to address the most pressing challenges in the Department of the Air Force (DAF). The Air Force Research Laboratory and AFWERX have partnered to streamline the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) process by accelerating the small business experience through faster proposal to award timelines, changing the pool of potential applicants by expanding opportunities to small business and eliminating bureaucratic overhead by continually implementing process improvement changes in contract execution. The DAF began offering the Open Topic SBIR/STTR program in 2018 which expanded the range of innovations the DAF funded and now effective July 22, 2025 Arize AI starts its journey to create and provide an R&D AI Engineering Platform that will strengthen the national defense of the United States of America by accelerating the deployment of powerful generative AI applications such as agentic AI and RAG based use cases.
Arize AI is excited to support DAF in maintaining and accelerating global AI dominance and innovation for the American warfighter. — Jason Lopatecki, co‑founder & CEO, Arize AI
NIPRGPT is a prototype large language model (LLM) authorized at Impact Level 5 (IL5), developed by the Air Force Research Laboratory for the Department of the Air Force’s Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) workloads. It offers a ChatGPT-like experience with the ability to maintain chat history, enabling critical assessments of the feasibility and security of deploying Generative AI on the Non-classified Internet Protocol Router Network (NIPRNet). NIPRGPT provides valuable insights into technical challenges, security implications, and operational benefits, assisting the Department of the Air Force in the secure and ethical adoption of commercial AI technologies.
The Arize AX R&D effort promises to help NIPRGPT by automating prompt engineering and online evaluation within CAC/NIPRNet constraints with metrics for quality, safety, efficiency, and compliance so leaders can see what works in practice. Insights from user feedback and key operational telemetry metrics will flow back to inform future policy, acquisition, and investment decisions across the DAF.
The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Department of the Air Force, the Department of Defense, or the U.S. government.
About Arize AI
Arize AI is an AI and agent engineering platform. Arize’s tools allow teams to quickly detect issues when they emerge, troubleshoot why they happened, and improve overall performance across both traditional ML and AI agent engineering. Arize is headquartered in Berkeley, CA
About AFRL
The Air Force Research Laboratory, or AFRL, is the primary scientific research and development center for the Department of the Air Force. AFRL plays an integral role in leading the discovery, development and integration of affordable warfighting technologies for our air, space and cyberspace forces. With a workforce spanning across nine technology areas and 40 other operations around the globe, AFRL provides a diverse portfolio of science and technology ranging from fundamental to advanced research and technology development. For more information, visit afresearchlab.com.
About AFWERX
As the innovation arm of the DAF and a directorate within the Air Force Research Laboratory, AFWERX brings cutting-edge American ingenuity from small businesses and start-ups to address the most pressing challenges of the DAF. AFWERX employs approximately 370 military, civilian and contractor personnel at four hubs and sites executing an annual $1.4 billion budget. Since 2019, AFWERX has awarded over 10,400 contracts worth more than $7.24 billion to strengthen the U.S. defense industrial base and drive faster technology transition to operational capability. For more information, visit: afwerx.com.
Contract No.: FA864925P0276
Award / Selection Date: July 22, 2025
Period of Performance: July 22, 2026
TPOC: William Jinkins