Aiding in Scientific Breakthroughs: Google's $20 Million Fund for AI and Science This aims to build upon the investment worth over USD 200 million made in the last five years to organizations using AI to accelerate their scientific work
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Tech giant Google has launched a USD 20 million fund to support artificial intelligence (AI) for scientific breakthroughs.
"(We) announced USD 20 million in funding to support academic and nonprofit organizations around the world that are using AI to address increasingly complex problems at the intersections of different disciplines of science. Fields such as rare and neglected disease research, experimental biology, materials science and sustainability all show promise," said Maggie Johnson, VP and Global Head, Google in an official blog.
This aims to build upon the investment worth over USD 200 million made in the last five years to organizations using AI to accelerate their scientific work.
In the backdrop of Demis Hassabis and John Jumper being awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry —for AlphaFold, a groundbreaking AI system that predicts the 3D structure of proteins from their amino acid sequences— Johnson notes that for AI to enable the next generation of scientific breakthroughs, scientists need necessary funding, computing power, cross-domain expertise and access to infrastructure including foundational datasets.
AlphaFold, developed by DeepMind, a subsidiary of Alphabet, has been used by more than two million researchers in more than 190 countries.
So how is AI helping advance science? For James Manyika, senior vice president, Research, Technology & Society, Google, speed is at the top. "In some areas of science, increasingly capable AI is making it possible for us to condense hundreds or even thousands of years of research into a few years, months, or even days," he said during his opening address in London.
Scientific breakthroughs backed by Google
Over five years, Google's bet has paid off in the nine biggest scientific breakthroughs. Demystifying protein folding has been termed as a "grand challenge" for decades by experts. In 2022, DeepMind shared the predicted structures of 200 million proteins from their AlphaFold 2 model which enabled scientists to accelerate progress in areas like developing new medicines, fighting antibiotic resistance and tackling plastic pollution.
Google partnered with others, including Harvard's Lichtman Lab, to map a fragment of the human brain to a level of detail never achieved. In 2024, they released never-before-seen structures to the public to help accelerate research.
According to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), floods cause over USD 40 billion in damage annually worldwide. When Google began its project of flood forecasting in 2018, many found it an impossible project given the scarcity of data.
It developed a model capable of reliably predicting extreme riverine events in ungauged watersheds up to five days in advance, with accuracy equal to or surpassing that of zero-day lead time nowcasts. In 2024, it expanded this coverage to 100 countries and 700 million people worldwide with a seven-day lead time.
Google Research collaborated with the US Forest Service for FireSat, an AI-powered model paired with a global satellite constellation designed to detect and monitor wildfires as small as a classroom. The system delivers high-resolution imagery within 20 minutes.
Other milestone achievements include GraphCast, a machine-learning research model capable of predicting weather conditions up to 10 days in advance more accurately and faster than the industry-standard weather simulation system (HRES); conducting the largest chemistry simulations to date on a quantum computer in collaboration with UC Berkeley and Columbia University; developing Graph Networks for Materials Exploration, which has identified 380,000 materials predicted to be stable at low temperatures based on simulations; and creating an AI system that autonomously controls plasma inside a nuclear fusion reactor in collaboration with the Swiss Plasma Center at EPFL.
What's next for AI in science?
It will also provide USD two million in Google Cloud Credits and pro bono technical expertise from Googlers. Manyika eyes three key areas to focus on to fully realize AI's potential to help advance science and bring tangible societal benefits:
Continue addressing AI's current limitations while enhancing its capabilities to support the development of novel scientific concepts, theories, and experiments.
A steadfast commitment to the scientific method and responsible AI usage is essential for advancing science.
Prioritize the accessibility of AI-driven research, tools, and resources for scientists worldwide, ensuring that the progress made benefits people everywhere.
