Why did the office name change?
The office focus has expanded beyond traditional micro-scale technologies and microsystems over the past several years to address increasingly complex national security challenges. This expansion calls for a closely integrated multidisciplinary research and development scope, which exceeds what the previous office name represented. Aligning the office name to its expanded focus allows us the flexibility to define the challenges the office will address without preconceived notions.
Why expand beyond microsystems?
Future advantage will depend on more than leadership in traditional microsystems alone. To create and prevent technological surprise for existing and future battlefields as well as economies of the future, the U.S. must create capabilities to address three technological imperatives for a new era of conflicts. Our office aims to (1) develop the economies of the future through compute-energy, robotics, and programmable matter; (2) disrupt the future battlefield through non-electronic technological capability, industrial sovereignty, and indigenous battlefield materiel; and (3) disrupt the current battlefield through adaptive program structures to accelerate technology transition into other DARPA offices and beyond. As a result, our office mission must expand.
What does MXO stand for? What does MXO do?
MXO stands for the Multi X Office. MXO develops foundational technologies that enable new classes of systems and mission capabilities.
What is “X”? What does “Multi X” signal?
X is not a variable; it’s a multiplier. Across scale, across physics, across operational impact.
“Multi X” anchors us in possibility. Our sphere of activity spans beyond seabed to space. It crosses disciplines, domains, and operational environments.
MXO is:
- Multi-Scale: We explore and engineer from the atomic and cellular level all the way up to the systems-level.
- Multi-Disciplinary: We deliberately bridge fields that don’t traditionally interact to create entirely new capability spaces.
- Multi-Domain/Multi-Impact: We create force multipliers that scale science operational advantage, strengthening military capability while also reinforcing national and economic security writ large.
How does the new name align with MXO’s areas of interest/growth?
MXO reflects a shift from advancing individual technology thrusts to shaping the architectures that connect them. The name aligns with growth areas that span materials, compute, sensing, and integration across domains. It signals that these efforts are now pursued as part of a unified, system-level strategy that is technology-agnostic.
Has MTO previously done work in the new thrust areas of MXO?
Yes, MTO has laid the groundwork in many of these areas. MXO expands and integrates those efforts into broader system-level and cross-domain applications. The difference is scope and level of ambition.
What’s in and out of scope for MXO? What does not fall into MXO?
If technology changes how systems are fundamentally built, integrated, or controlled, it’s in scope. If it only improves performance within an existing paradigm, it’s out. It is far easier to describe what is in scope: any idea that a program manager has that disrupts the current and future battlefield and/or develops the economies of the future AND fits within MXO core competencies (see PM capabilities to understand MXO core competencies) can fit within MXO.
MXO disrupts how technology is developed and used by applying the physical sciences to deliver novel, mission-relevant capabilities. MXO will explore materials at the atomic, molecular, and cellular scales to develop novel components, tools, and processes with the potential to reshape the battlespace and economies of the future.
Examples generally outside MXO’s scope include:
- Pure software or application-layer AI
- Standalone operational platforms
- Basic science without a clear technology transition path
- Clinical or human-performance biotechnology
- Incremental advances along established roadmaps
Does MXO support foundational research that does not yet have clear economic drivers?
MXO is less focused on basic science for its own sake and more focused on foundational technologies that can redefine existing constraints and enable entirely new operational capabilities.
Does MXO have a different criterion for evaluation of ideas than MTO?
No. MTO had a long history of disrupting the state of technology; MXO will do the same. We will continue to seed the roadmaps that lead to ultimate displacement of entire ways of fighting and economies.
Who is the target MXO community? How does it compare to the MTO community?
In a nutshell, MXO’s community is the set of people who shape or exploit the physical and architectural foundations of technological power to solve hard problems that matter driven by our phenomenal program managers.
The MTO community remains central to this ecosystem. MXO is merely expanding this community to create the technologies the Department and the country need. We seek to add members from academic disciplines beyond those with whom we typically partner with today; startups and small businesses who are unafraid to reexamine prior assumptions; and commercial partners who are driven to think beyond what is of utility for immediate Department needs and are likely to propagate in ways different from how we do today.
How is MXO expanding its community?
MXO is expanding to include a broader set of physical sciences. This was emphasized in recent years with the office foundational thrust area of photonic circuits, quantum circuits and organic circuits. In addition to foundational semiconductors, MXO will explore material options across the entire spectrum of physical sciences to include crystals, rare earth minerals, polymers and organic materials. MXO will engage a broader group of professional organizations and industries such as materials discovery, synthetic polymer chemistry, resource utilization, and energy storage communities. MXO will continue to transform this innovation and insight into military capability development and commercialization. Every member of MXO is critical in our quest to expand.
Will MTO’s performers change with the new name?
The performer base will broaden as the mission expands. Many existing performers will continue to play a critical role. MXO also aims to expand the community to include new domains and interdisciplinary contributors.
Is DARPA’s strategy as an agency changing or alignment under the Office of the Undersecretary of War for Research & Engineering (OUSW R&E) changing?
DARPA’s alignment under OUSW(R&E) remains the same, as does DARPA’s core mission: to create and prevent technological surprise for national security. The agency’s portfolio of programs is continuously refined to address the dynamic nature of national security. The shift from MTO to MXO reflects how that mission is being executed in response to evolving technological competition.
