'We’re still early, but it’s clear that AI will play a meaningful role in how science advances': OpenAI launches free Prism app for scientific research

• Prism combines Crixet's LaTeX document preparation with GPT-5.2
• OpenAI says existing tools are highly fragmented, which causes friction
• The app is free to use for personal plans – other plans and paid features coming soon

OpenAI has launched Prism, a new app it says will do for science what coding agents did for programming, and it's all about putting together scientific research with citations and figures.

Prism is built on Crixet, a cloud-based LaTeX platform that OpenAI is also acquiring as part of the announcement. The AI comes from the latest GPT-5.2 and GPT-5.2 Thinking models, which are suited to mathematical and scientific reasoning.

OpenAI criticized the existing scientific research flow for being highly fragmented, causing developers to have to juggle multiple tools. "We’re still early, but it’s clear that AI will play a meaningful role in how science advances," the company wrote.

OpenAI Prism launch

The ChatGPT-maker explained Prism will replace having to use multiple apps, such as PDF editors, reference managers and chat apps, which will ultimately boost productivity by putting all the context in one place.

Some of the use cases OpenAI detailed include drafting and revising papers, searching for and incorporating relevant literature, automatically building bibliographies, converting handwritten equations and diagrams directly into LaTeX and collaborating in real time with co-authors and students.

"In 2026, we expect a comparable shift in science, as AI begins to meaningfully accelerate discovery in several ways, one of which is reducing friction in day-to-day research work," the post reads, likening the impending scientific revolution to the coding revolution we've already seen.

Best still, Prism is set to be free to all users will a personal ChatGPT account, with OpenAI targeting making scientific research more accessible. It'll also support unlimited projects and collaborators.

Although Education plans aren't yet getting access to Prism, the company promises to add these plans as well as Business, Team and Enterprise subscriptions at a later date.

However, although it's free, as the product progresses, OpenAI expects to add more advanced features to paid plans.

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