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Using AI on an SBIR proposal, agency by agency

Can I use AI to write an SBIR or STTR proposal?

It depends on the agency. NIH will not treat applications substantially developed by AI as original and caps each principal investigator at six applications a year. NSF allows AI help and encourages you to say how you used it. For DoD, DOE and USDA we found no agency-wide published rule, so read each solicitation. Everywhere, keep the technical approach in your team's words, verify every claim, and keep sensitive technical data out of commercial AI tools.

Last reviewed October 3, 2026.

Where each agency stands

Checked against each agency's own published material in October 2026. Rules change, so the current solicitation always wins.

NIH
Notice NOT-OD-25-132 covers NIH SBIR and STTR applications like any other. Applications substantially developed by AI are not treated as original, NIH uses detection technology, and each principal investigator may submit up to six applications a year. The NIH rule in detail.
NSF
NSF's notice to the research community encourages proposers to say in the project description whether and how they used generative AI, and holds them responsible for the accuracy and authenticity of the proposal. It applies to SBIR and STTR proposals as NSF submissions.
DoD
The DoD SBIR instructions we reviewed contain no rule on AI in proposal preparation. Components publish their own instructions with each release, so read the one for your topic.
DOE and USDA
We found no agency-wide published rule for either. Read each funding opportunity's instructions for language on AI.

For every SBIR proposal

  1. Read the solicitation for AI language

    Search the instructions for "artificial intelligence" and "generative" before you start. A rule can appear in a single release.

  2. Keep the technical approach yours

    The innovation, the technical objectives and the work plan are what reviewers fund. Write them in your team's words.

  3. Protect sensitive technical data

    If the proposal includes export-controlled or controlled unclassified information, check with whoever manages your compliance before putting any of it into a commercial AI tool.

  4. Verify and be ready to disclose

    Check every figure and citation, and keep a note of how you used AI. Here is what to say if asked.

Where Quillify fits

Quillify searches SBIR and STTR topics across agencies, and checks them against more than forty years of those awards so you can see whether work like yours has been funded. "Am I qualified?" reads the full solicitation, and the requirements checklist lists everything the proposal must include. Drafts are built from your own documents, and for NIH the research strategy stays in your own words.

What SBIR and STTR are.

Who asks this most

The answer above is the same whoever you are. What Quillify does about it is not.

Related

All guides, or the glossary.

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