What Schmidt Sciences does
Schmidt Sciences is a New York–based U.S. 501(c)(3) nonprofit (Schmidt Sciences, LLC) founded in 2024 by Eric and Wendy Schmidt to advance science and technology for public benefit, with philanthropic focus areas including AI & advanced computing, astrophysics & space, biosciences, climate, and “science systems” programs. It frames its approach as funding early-stage, high-risk hypotheses and building interdisciplinary communities and platforms that aim to change how research is conducted, including by pairing grants with tools, convenings, and (in some AI programs) access to relevant compute and research infrastructure.
Within AI & advanced computing, Schmidt Sciences publicly describes multiple grantmaking programs spanning (1) foundational AI safety science (including LLM evaluation/testing approaches), (2) AI research for societal impact (e.g., AI2050 fellowships), (3) AI at work (field studies with labor economists), and (4) AI initiatives that bridge to humanities scholarship (e.g., its Humanities and AI Virtual Institute).
In climate, the organization uses multi-year “virtual institute” structures that combine research teams, datasets/platform-building goals, and efforts to translate model outputs into decision-relevant tools. Examples include the Virtual Institute for Earth’s Water (VIEW) and the Virtual Earth Systems Research Institute (VESRI), with public announcements describing both funding levels and measurable platform reach/speedups from prior institute rounds.