Research NewsletterIssue: ORN-2025-25

America's Seed Fund, powered by the U.S. National Science Foundation

Up to $2 million in seed funding with zero equity

America’s Seed Fund powered by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) awards more than $200 million annually to startups and small businesses, transforming scientific discovery into products and services with commercial and societal impact. Startups working across virtually every discipline of science and technology can receive up to $2 million in non-dilutive funds to support research and development (R&D), helping de-risk technology for commercial success. America’s Seed Fund is congressionally mandated through the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. 

About NSF TIP

The NSF Directorate for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships (NSF TIP) seeks to engage all Americans in accelerating key technologies to advance U.S. competitiveness. The directorate partners across sectors to advance three primary focus areas – accelerating technology translation and development, fostering regional innovation and economic growth, and preparing the American workforce for better-quality, higher-wage jobs. For more information about NSF TIP, visit new.nsf.gov/tip/latest.

NSF: Verticals-enabling Intelligent Network Systems (VINES)

NIH: Blueprint MedTech Translator (UG3/UH3 - Clinical Trial Optional); NIH Director’s Transformative Research Awards (R01 Clinical Trial Optional)

Department of Defense/US Army/DARPA/ONR: Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 Office of Naval Research (ONR) Young Investigator Program (YIP); DHA- Military Health System Research Program;  Defense Sciences Office (DSO) Office-wide BAA

Microsoft announces advancement in quantum error correction: In its effort to achieve fault tolerant quantum computing, Microsoft on Thursday unveiled its new error-correcting code, which uses four-dimensional geometric codes to help reliably transmit information. The 4D geometric codes developed by Microsoft stabilize the physical qubits a quantum computer uses to process information. Once stabilized, these physical qubits will act as a network to compose logical qubits, thanks to the 4D codes’ ability to quickly find and correct errors in the qubits as they compute volumes of data.  Alongside neutral atom hardware created in collaboration with Atom Computing, the 4D codes will serve as the foundational architecture of Microsoft’s fault-tolerant quantum computer. According to results from a simulation outlined in a set of research papers, the implementation of these codes results in a 1,000-fold error rate reduction.  “These powerful codes can reduce the error rates of physical qubits by orders of magnitude to reach the level required for quantum circuits to operate reliably,” a press release said.  The family of 4D codes are now available in Microsoft’s cloud-based quantum computing platform. More information is posted on the NextGov website.

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USPTO touts success in AI applications: Despite a “rough and rocky” journey, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is going all-in on generative artificial intelligence solutions to help improve its business operations. Officials from USPTO hosted a Tuesday discussion on the agency’s future leveraging AI for its various missions, the comments it’s looking for on its recent request for information on available automated offerings and the solutions the agency is currently developing.  “The biggest lesson we learned [when introducing AI] was that all AI requires knowing your data, knowing data structure, data elements, data flow and, most importantly, data security,” said Jamie Holcombe, USPTO’s chief information officer. “We realize that we are now in an era of intelligent computing where we succeed only by combining data, AI and infrastructure security for results and measurable outcomes.” One of the tools born from this approach is Scout, an acronym for “searching, consolidating, outlining and understanding.” Scout is built from a large language model to create a chatbot assistant that can help with code development, detect improper filings, support cybersecurity threat detection and compliance efforts, and more. More information is posted on the NextGov website.

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House bill would task NSA with developing AI security playbook: Lawmakers are tasking the NSA with drafting a national AI security strategy to keep sensitive technologies out of the hands of foreign adversaries. Bipartisan House members introduced legislation on Thursday that would require the National Security Agency to create an artificial intelligence “security playbook” to protect sensitive U.S. technologies from foreign adversaries like China.  The bill was introduced by Rep. Darin LaHood, R-Ill., and co-sponsored by Reps. John Moolenaar, R-Mich., Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., and Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J. Moolenaar is the chairman of the Select Committee on China and Krishnamoorthi is the panel’s ranking member.  In a press release, the lawmakers said there was evidence that Chinese-based startup DeepSeek’s AI chatbot “used illegal distillation techniques to steal insights from U.S. AI models to accelerate their own technology development,” and that the legislation was needed “to address vulnerabilities, threat detection, cyber and physical security strategies, and contingency plans for highly sensitive AI systems.”

The legislation would require the NSA’s AI security playbook to include information on potential vulnerabilities “in advanced AI data centers and among advanced AI developers capable of producing covered AI technologies,” with a particular emphasis on the cybersecurity risks “and other security challenges that are unique to protecting covered AI technologies and critical components of such technologies.” More information is posted on the NextGov website.