Simons Foundation, Anthropic and OpenAI put $15 million into helping mathematicians judge AI-assisted results

Mathematics gains funding and resources dedicated to adapting to the AI era, managed and awarded by the Simons Foundation with Anthropic and OpenAI contributing money and resources. The foundation had previously backed the intersection of mathematics and AI, including funding development of the Lean proof assistant and convening workshops and lectures; the new effort expands that support into a program for the mathematics community as a whole. The three parties commit $15 million in combined funding and resources, with the foundation managing and awarding the funding, including through an open call for proposals.

The funding will support workshops and initiatives that help researchers evaluate recent AI-assisted results, learn and use new tools, share perspectives and shape collective standards for AI use. The foundation frames the program as community-driven, with the mathematics community rather than any single company or institution driving discussions of how these tools are evaluated, adopted and used. Applications are open for the Targeted Grants to Math+AI Institutes funding opportunity, with a proposal submission deadline of December 1, 2026, at noon Eastern time.

What has been announced is the funding commitment, the application channel and deadline, and the arrangement to provide tools and computing resources to a select group of researchers; awardees will be contacted directly by the foundation.

The program is at the announcement and proposal-solicitation stage; specific funded projects, awardee lists and allocation of tool resources have not been published.