Google and Tel Aviv University launch $1M core AI research program

This partnership is modest in dollar terms but symbolically important. Google is effectively seeding a mini‑Bell Labs for core AI in the Israeli academic ecosystem, with Tel Aviv University positioning its Center for AI & Data Science as a hub for foundational work on language models, privacy and algorithmic efficiency. That kind of upstream research funding tends to pay off with new architectures, better theoretical understanding of why current models work as well as they do, and a steady pipeline of PhDs who can move fluidly between academia and industry. ([english.tau.ac.il](https://english.tau.ac.il/news/tau-and-google-launch-new-program?utm_source=openai))

In the broader AGI race, this is another data point in a trend we’ve seen from Google, OpenAI, Anthropic and others: deepen ties with top universities to extend their research surface area without having to hire everyone in‑house. For Google, it also helps counter the narrative that the most interesting frontier work has shifted to US‑based startups by anchoring a high‑profile program in Israel, a country with a dense concentration of AI talent and defense‑driven use cases. Over time, expect more of these $1–5 million focused research alliances—especially around topics like efficiency and privacy that could meaningfully alter the cost and risk profile of very large models.