Tel Aviv University and Google Israel launch a $1M AI research partnership
Three-year program to fund core AI research, scholarships, and education initiatives
Tel Aviv University (TAU) and Google Israel have launched a new three-year program aimed at advancing foundational research in artificial intelligence, supported by $1 million in funding from Google.org. The initiative builds on an existing collaboration between the two institutions and will focus on core AI fields such as language models, algorithmic efficiency, and privacy-focused technologies.
The program will be led by the Center for AI & Data Science at TAU, headed by Prof. Yishay Mansour of the Blavatnik School of Computer Science and AI. It will provide research grants and scholarships for graduate students, with a particular emphasis on supporting PhD candidates working in fundamental AI research areas.
The launch was marked by an event at Tel Aviv University attended by senior academic and industry leaders, including TAU President Prof. Ariel Porat and Google Vice President and Head of Google Research Prof. Yossi Matias. Prof. Porat said the collaboration reflects TAU’s strategy of combining academic excellence with social impact, noting that the program “includes scholarships for PhD students” and support for students from Israel’s social and geographic peripheries.
Beyond research funding, the initiative places a strong emphasis on education. New programs include an honors track for graduate students in AI and the “BITS of AI” program for teenagers from underserved communities, run in cooperation with TAU’s Youth University. These efforts aim to broaden access to advanced AI education and cultivate the next generation of researchers.
Prof. Yossi Matias highlighted the importance of collaboration between academia and industry, saying that “research and academic excellence are more important than ever” and that bringing together different disciplines can lead to “meaningful advances” in science and technology.
Prof. Mansour said the program addresses key challenges in understanding AI’s rapid progress, particularly large language models, while also confronting broader societal issues such as privacy. Google Vice President Prof. Avinatan Hassidim added that the partnership would help “nurture Israel's next generation of researchers and developers” and contribute to solving complex technological challenges over the coming years.