Chan Zuckerberg Initiative acquires AI-powered search engine startup, Meta

The Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative has acquired an AI-powered research engine startup, Meta to make it easier for researchers to get access to all the content they need in order to work upon some of the most challenging technologies of our time.

Meta's search platform uses machine intelligence to analyse the number and quality of citations in medical journals and research papers and then sorts them into the largest knowledge graph of its kind. What makes Meta different is that its AI recognises authors and citations between papers so it can surface the most important research instead of just what has the best SEO. It also provides free full-text access to 18,000 journals and literature sources.

Besides helping students and scientists save time sifting through articles on PubMed, Meta can also help organisations decide where to direct their research budgets by identifying trends in certain areas of study or finding authors who have shown promising work in the past.

Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan’s $45 billion philanthropy organisation will spend a few months working over Meta and enhance its product before rolling out the free service to everyone.

“Going forward, our intent is not to profit from Meta’s data and capabilities; instead we aim to ensure they get to those who need them most, across sectors and as quickly as possible, for the benefit of the world,” said Meta co-founder and CEO Sam Molyneux.