companies

Explainpaper

Simple AI tool for highlighting confusing passages in a research paper and getting a plain-English explanation on the spot.

Explainpaper was launched in 2022 by Aman Jha, who built the first version after struggling to get through a dense neuroscience paper and wanting a way to highlight the confusing part and just ask what it meant, rather than searching for background reading elsewhere. Co-developed with Jade Asmus and built on GPT-3 at launch, the tool gained a few thousand users within its first weeks online, driven largely by word of mouth among students. The company has stayed small, run out of San Francisco by a compact founding team rather than a large engineering org, and has not announced outside venture funding. Its focus has remained narrow and deliberate: rather than trying to be a full research assistant or writing tool, Explainpaper does one thing — explain a highlighted passage of academic text in simpler language — and layers a handful of paid features on top of that core, free interaction.

Founded

2022

Headquarters

San Francisco, United States

Sector

applications