A new fund for scientific software

Scientific software is essential for AI-driven scientific discovery, yet the open-source ecosystem supporting AI applications in science is underfunded. As scientific workflows increasingly adopt AI, the underlying software and its communities must evolve. Although various funders (philanthropic, public, and industry) are investing in open-source software to facilitate this shift, they currently lack an effective coordination mechanism. This proposal aims to establish a new fund that will enable multiple funders to direct resources toward software advancing AI in science. The fund will serve as a central coordination hub, maximizing the visibility, impact, and sustainability of the funding. While this proposal focuses on a single fund, it will lay the groundwork for a shared infrastructure, allowing for the creation of a portfolio of funds to support multi-funder opportunities across diverse areas of software and science. The proposed fund will be established in partnership with the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative and will be hosted by the grantee, Renaissance Philanthropy.