MUMBAI: The Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) has been named among five leading research institutions from across the world chosen to participate in a pioneering initiative exploring how artificial intelligence (AI) can transform mathematical discovery.
Announced by Google DeepMind on Wednesday, the ‘AI for Math Initiative’ aims to build new tools and collaborations at the intersection of AI and pure mathematics, a frontier long defined by human intuition and creativity. The initiative is supported by Google DeepMind, the artificial intelligence research lab, and funded by Google.org, the company’s philanthropic arm.
Alongside TIFR, the other inaugural partners are Imperial College London, the Institute for Advanced Study (Princeton University), Institut des Hautes Études Scientifiques (France), and the Simons Institute for the Theory of Computing (UC Berkeley).
“Mathematics is the foundational language of the universe,” wrote Pushmeet Kohli, vice president of science and strategic initiatives at Google DeepMind, and Eugénie Rives, senior director for GenAI Strategy, in a blog post announcing the initiative. “At Google DeepMind, we believe AI can serve as a powerful collaborator with mathematicians, augmenting creativity and accelerating discovery.”
While the exact funding amount has not been disclosed, the support from Google.org will provide participating institutions access to DeepMind’s most advanced AI systems, including Gemini Deep Think, an enhanced reasoning model, AlphaEvolve, designed to discover new algorithms, and AlphaProof, a system to assist in solving complex mathematical proofs.
The initiative’s long-term goal, DeepMind said, is to identify new mathematical problems where AI can offer breakthroughs, develop the infrastructure and tools to pursue those challenges, and “create a powerful feedback loop between fundamental research and applied AI.”
The effort builds on DeepMind’s recent achievements in the field: its AlphaGeometry and AlphaProof systems reached a silver-medal level at the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) last year, while the latest Gemini model, enhanced with Deep Think, achieved gold-medal performance at this year’s IMO, perfectly solving five of the six problems.
At TIFR, the initiative will be led by Hariharan Narayanan and Piyush Srivastava, who will coordinate research into how AI can extend mathematical reasoning and open new pathways of discovery.
“We are only at the beginning of understanding everything AI can do,” the DeepMind blog said. “By combining the profound intuition of world-leading mathematicians with the novel capabilities of AI, new avenues of research can emerge, advancing human knowledge and enabling breakthroughs across science.”
In a post on X, TIFR said it was proud to be part of the global collaboration, noting that the initiative “marks a new chapter in exploring how AI can expand the boundaries of mathematical thought.”