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Conversational agent can create executable quantum chemistry workflows

Artificial intelligence (AI) agents and large-language models (LLMs), such as the model underpinning OpenAI’s conversational platform ChatGPT, are now widely used by people worldwide, both in informal and professional settings. Over the past decade or so, some of these models have also been adapted to tackle complex research problems rooted in various fields, including biology, physics, medical sciences and chemistry.

Existing computational tools employed by chemists are often highly sophisticated and complex. Their complexity makes them inaccessible to non-expert users and often even difficult for expert chemists to use.

Researchers at Matter Lab at the University of Toronto and NVIDIA have developed El Agente Q, a new LLM-based system that could allow chemists, particularly those specialized in , to easily generate and execute quantum chemistry workflows, sequences of computational tasks required to study specific chemical systems at the quantum mechanical level.

President of European Commission expects human-level AI by 2026

On May 20, during her speech at the Annual EU Budget Conference 2025, Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, stated:

When the current budget was negotiated, we thought AI would only approach human reasoning around 2050. Now we expect this to happen already next year. It is simply impossible to determine today where innovation will lead us by the end of the next budgetary cycle. Our budget of tomorrow will need to respond fast.

This is remarkable coming from the highest-ranking EU official. It suggests the Overton window for AI policy has shifted significantly.

A new complexity in protein chemistry: Algorithm uncovers overlooked chemical linkages

Proteins are among the most studied molecules in biology, yet new research from the University of Göttingen shows they can still hold surprising secrets. Researchers have discovered previously undetected chemical bonds within archived protein structures, revealing an unexpected complexity in protein chemistry.

These newly identified nitrogen-oxygen-sulfur (NOS) linkages broaden our understanding of how proteins respond to , a condition where harmful oxygen-based molecules build up and can damage proteins, DNA, and other essential parts of the cell. The new findings are published in Communications Chemistry.

The research team systematically re-analyzed over 86,000 high-resolution protein structures from the Protein Data Bank, a global public repository of protein structures, using a new algorithm that they developed inhouse called SimplifiedBondfinder. This pipeline combines , quantum mechanical modeling, and structural refinement methods to reveal subtle that were missed by conventional analyses.

Project Astra | Exploring the Capabilities of a Universal AI Assistant

Last year we introduced Project Astra, our research prototype of a universal AI assistant. Since then we’ve improved memory, added computer control and enhanced voice output, and are working to bring these new capabilities to Gemini Live and other products.

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OpenAI’s Chief Scientist: AI Could Produce Novel Research by the End of the Decade

Jakub Pachocki, OpenAI’s chief scientist since 2024, believes artificial intelligence models will soon be capable of producing original research and making measurable economic impacts. In a conversation with Nature, Pachocki outlined how he sees the field evolving — and how OpenAI plans to balance innovation with safety concerns.

Pachocki, who joined OpenAI in 2017 after a career in theoretical computer science and competitive programming, now leads the firm’s development of its most advanced AI systems. These systems are designed to tackle complex tasks across science, mathematics, and engineering, moving far beyond the chatbot functions that made ChatGPT a household name in 2022.