DIU Commercial Solutions Opening (CSO)

DIU CSO — Prototype Contract

Provides research teams and institutions for DIU CSO Prototype Contract in artificial intelligence, defense innovation, and cybersecurity.

The Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) Commercial Solutions Opening (CSO) is the U.S. Department of Defense's primary continuously-open contracting mechanism for engaging commercial industry on national security technology challenges. Established under Other Transaction Authority (10 USC 4022), the CSO operates across seven technology portfolios — Artificial Intelligence, Autonomy, Cyber and Telecom, Emerging Technology, Energy, Human Systems, and Space — and issues new sub-solicitations on a rolling, mission-driven basis as DoD partners identify capability gaps. There is no annual close date; the CSO program itself never expires, though individual sub-solicitations carry specific open and close windows typically spanning a few weeks.

Eligibility is oriented toward U.S. commercial companies of any size; universities and Federally Funded R&D Centers are generally excluded, as this is a commercial-industry pathway. SAM.gov registration is required before submission. Companies new to government contracting are explicitly welcomed — DIU has onboarded more than 100 first-time Department of War vendors. Award sizes are negotiated per sub-solicitation based on prototype scope and are not published in advance. From submission of a solution brief to executed contract typically takes as few as 60 to 90 days. Prototype periods run 12 to 24 months; upon successful completion, companies receive a Success Memo enabling any federal agency to procure the solution without re-competing.

For commercial technology companies, the CSO is the most direct non-dilutive path into DoD revenue at scale. Awards are milestone-based OT prototype contracts — not grants — meaning payment comes upon achievement of agreed technical milestones rather than upfront. Companies retain IP developed during the effort, with DoD licensing specified usage rights per contract. Winning applicants are those who clearly connect a mature commercial product to a documented DoD mission need; the short solution brief (not a lengthy proposal) is the first filter, so concise, capability-led language outperforms academic or R&D framing.