Chan Zuckerberg Initiative acquires and will free up science search engine Meta | TechCrunch

"Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan’s $45 billion philanthropy organization is making its first acquisition in order to make it easier for scientists to search, read and tie together more than 26 million science research papers. The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative is acquiring Meta, an AI-powered research search engine startup, and will make its tool free to all in a few months after enhancing the product.

Meta could help scientists find the latest papers related to their own projects, while assisting funding organizations to collaborate with researchers and identify high-potential areas for investment or impact. What’s special about Meta is that its AI recognizes 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.

Meta co-founder and CEO Sam Molyneux writes that '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.'

CZI did not disclose any of the terms of its acquisition of the Toronto-based startup’s tech and team, which was founded in 2010 and funded with $7.5 million by investors, including Rho Canada Ventures and HIGHLINEvc. The startup formerly charged some users for subscriptions or custom solutions, but now the whole Meta product will be free. The acquisition will take some time to close first, though."