Stanford's 2026 AI Index mined the Web of Science database for AI-related publications across the natural sciences -- physics, chemistry, life sciences and earth science -- and found the count reached roughly 80,150 AI-related science publications in 2025, up 26% from 2024
Stanford's 2026 AI Index reported that AI-related publications in the natural sciences reached approximately 80,150 in 2025. This figure, derived from the Web of Science database, represents a 26% increase from 2024. The natural sciences include physics, chemistry, life sciences, and earth science.
Verified 2026-09-28
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Scientists are using AI in their own research, so its reach extends well beyond chatbots and software.
More on Adoption
- Stanford's 2026 AI Index, citing McKinsey's 2025 survey, breaks down AI-agent deployment by business function. Even in IT, the function with the most agent activity, the share of organisations reporting no AI-agent use at all in 2025 was still 69% of organizations report zero AI-agent use in IT, the business function with the heaviest agent activity
- Stanford's 2026 AI Index reports that organizations' use of generative AI specifically, not just AI overall, grew sharply in 2025: the share of organizations that regularly use generative AI in at least one business function reached 79%, up from 71% in 2024
- Stanford's 2026 AI Index compared generative AI's adoption curve after its mass-market debut to that of earlier transformative technologies, and found generative AI reached 53% population adoption within three years, faster than the PC or the internet
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