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Shing-Tung Yau Leads China’s Mathematics-and-AI Alliance
Fields Medalist Shing-Tung Yau is leading an alliance of eight Chinese mathematics research institutions focused on artificial intelligence and mathematics. The alliance was established at Tsinghua University on October 11, with its first l
AI.info Team · Written with AI ·
Fields Medalist Shing-Tung Yau is leading a new alliance of eight Chinese mathematics research institutions focused on using artificial intelligence in mathematics and related fields. The alliance was formally established at Tsinghua University on October 11, according to a Tsinghua University announcement.
The founding members include Tsinghua University’s Qiuzhen College and Yau Mathematical Sciences Center, Beijing Yanqi Lake Institute of Applied Mathematics, the Morningside Center of Mathematics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Shanghai Institute for Mathematics and Interdisciplinary Sciences, Southeast University’s Yau Center, the Hetao Institute of Mathematics and Interdisciplinary Sciences in Shenzhen, and the Chinese University of Hong Kong’s Zhizhen Academy of Interdisciplinary Mathematics.
A shared program for mathematics and AI
The alliance says it brings together nearly 1,000 mathematics researchers and research teams. Yau chairs the alliance’s academic committee, which is responsible for major research decisions and academic evaluation. The group plans to make model-training resources, formal mathematics libraries and computing platforms available to participating institutions.
Its six priorities include developing models for mathematical science, building infrastructure for AI-assisted research, and using mathematical theory to support AI interpretability and safety. The alliance also plans to apply mathematical research to fields including quantum computing, life sciences and financial economics, and to pursue international cooperation and researcher training.
Among its education plans are advanced AI training camps for students at overseas universities and joint talent-development programs. The alliance also intends to publish Journal of AI-Assisted Mathematics, a specialist academic journal. Its first laboratory is based at Tsinghua’s Qiuzhen College and was jointly established with the Yau Mathematical Sciences Center. Other participating institutions are expected to establish laboratories in Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing, Shenzhen and Hong Kong.
Yau calls for researchers to work together
At the launch, Yau said Chinese AI systems still trail foreign systems in frontier scientific research. China Science Daily reported his remarks:
丘成桐说：“国内人工智能（AI）大模型在数学、物理基础科学和应用科学最前沿的学问上，与国外相比，还相差较远。”
Yau, a Tsinghua University chair professor and chair of the alliance, also argued that overseas AI companies have brought leading scholars into model development, while Chinese universities and research institutions often work separately. He said the alliance aims to bring mathematics researchers together to develop specialized models, rather than leaving that work to engineers alone.
Research and shared infrastructure
The alliance’s plans extend beyond model development. Its proposed infrastructure is intended to serve mathematicians, support original research and help address major mathematical problems. The group also wants mathematical theory to contribute to understanding AI systems and their safety.
Researchers from member institutions presented work at the founding event on topics including conjectures, geometry, quantum algorithms, graph statistics and AI-assisted formal verification. The alliance describes its broader goal as connecting mathematical research, AI development and applications in other disciplines.
The launch brought together more than 400 attendees, including representatives from mathematics and AI organizations, participating institutions, companies and universities, according to the Tsinghua University announcement.