In March, Joanna Sadler, an organic chemist at the University of Edinburgh, received an unusual email. It promised £35,000 to advance her research—no strings attached. The offer came from a program at Imperial College London that had developed an artificial intelligence (AI) tool to spot promising climate-related research that was close to commercialization.

Sadler’s work on engineering bacteria to convert disposable cutlery into acetone—an industrial solvent currently derived from fossil fuels—had made the cut. At first, Sadler didn’t really understand what the email was. But after meeting with members from Imperial’s Climate Solutions Catalyst (CSC) team, she realized it was legitimate and decided to take them up on the offer.

As AI continues to improve, universities, public funding agencies, and venture capitalists are all considering how machines could be used to identify breakthrough research. In addition to speeding up grant reviews, some researchers say the technology could help level the playing field for researchers who may be hesitant to seek out commercialization opportunities. But others warn that relying on AI for funding decisions could introduce biases and compromise confidentiality.