DARPA’s Information Processing Techniques Office (IPTO) is laying the groundwork for a future research program that aims to make modern electronic markets more resilient to deliberate disruption. The Intrinsic Market Resilience (IMR) Proposers Day supports an anticipated Program Solicitation focused on using Large Language Models, formal methods, and automated reasoning to identify weaknesses in market designs and recommend more resilient alternatives. For companies active in DARPA research, the event provides an early opportunity to evaluate technical alignment before a formal solicitation is released. Attendance is voluntary and is not required to compete.
The planned IMR program addresses a problem that DARPA believes existing regulatory and compliance approaches do not solve. Modern electronic markets supporting financial trading, energy distribution, and cloud computing have become increasingly complex and interconnected. DARPA is interested in technologies that identify structural weaknesses in market mechanisms that could be exploited by adversaries seeking to create disruption rather than financial gain. The objective is to develop automated methods for strengthening market designs before those weaknesses can be exploited.
The proposed research combines LLM-based automation with rigorous mathematical modeling and formal analysis. DARPA intends to develop machine-readable representations of market designs from documents such as technical specifications and regulatory filings, evaluate mathematical properties describing resilient market behavior, identify design flaws through automated analysis, and recommend validated design changes that improve resilience. The capability is intended to support both civilian markets and military-critical resources that depend on modern market mechanisms.
The Proposers Day also provides an early indication of the technical disciplines likely to shape the future solicitation. Organizations with expertise in formal verification, automated reasoning, mathematical modeling, AI-assisted software analysis, LLM-enabled knowledge extraction, and critical infrastructure resilience are the strongest technical fit. DARPA also anticipates issuing a classified addendum addressing aspects of critical infrastructure protection associated with the future program.
This opportunity is primarily targeted at organizations performing advanced AI and formal methods research. Universities, federally funded research and development centers, defense research organizations, and specialized AI companies are the most likely prime contractors. Traditional GovCon IT services firms are more likely to participate as research partners or subcontractors than as prime performers unless they already support DARPA research programs.
Read more here: DARPA-SN-26-116
