The NSF AI Institute for Artificial Intelligence and Fundamental Interactions (IAIFI)
The NSF AI Institute for Artificial Intelligence and Fundamental Interactions (IAIFI, pronounced /aɪ-faɪ/) is one of the inaugural institutes of the U.S. National Science Foundation-led National Artificial Intelligence Research Institutes program. IAIFI is advancing physics knowledge – from the smallest building blocks of nature to the largest structures in the Universe – and galvanizing AI research innovation. A collaboration of physics and AI researchers at MIT, Harvard, Northeastern, and Tufts, IAIFI’s primary goals are to pioneer interdisciplinary AI+Physics research; empower the next generation of AI+Physics talent; and build a dynamic AI+Physics community.
IAIFI Jobs
Applications are now open for the 2026–2029 IAIFI Fellowship search. Apply to be an IAIFI Fellow by October 8, 2025.
IAIFI Events
View our full events calendar for all upcoming events.
Our IAIFI Colloquium series will continue in on September 12, 2025, with Francisco Villaescusa-Navarro (Simons Foundation). Recordings of our previous colloquium talks are available to view on our YouTube channel.
IAIFI News
For an archive of IAIFI news, see our news page. To receive periodic announcements about IAIFI-related activities, sign up for our mailing list and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.
IAIFI Senior Investigators collaborate with other interdisciplinary researchers on community white paper exploring “The Future of AI and the Mathematical and Physical Sciences.” The white paper, which developed out of an NSF-funded Workshop held in March 2025, presents how the MPS domains (Astronomy, Chemistry, Materials Research, Mathematical Sciences, and Physics) can best capitalize on, and contribute to, the future of AI. September 4, 2025
IAIFI Summer School sponsor FirstPrinciples summarizes the impact of the School. Read Bridging Minds and Disciplines: The IAIFI Summer School and the Future of Collaborative Science. August 15, 2025
IAIFI Researchers and Collaborators Discover New Type of Supernova. Read about the discovery, led by IAIFI Fellow Alex Gagliano along with IAIFI Senior Investigator Ashley Villar and their collaborators. August 13, 2025
IAIFI Director Jesse Thaler speaks with Nabil Laoudji on Discovery Engines podcast. In the episode, they discuss how AI is reshaping physics discovery and how physicists are reshaping AI. July 31, 2025
IAIFI Deputy Director Mike Williams participates on panel at AI+Science Summit. The panel, “Powering Innovation at the Intersection of AI & Science: NSF’s AI Institutes” was hosted by the Special Competitive Studies Project at their AI+Science Summit. July 23, 2025
IAIFI Fellow Jessie Micallef receives Impact Award from MicroBooNE expirement. Jessie received the award for contributions to the experiment. July 20, 2025
Marisa LaFleur promoted from IAIFI Project Manager to IAIFI Managing Director. As IAIFI Managing Director, Marisa will continue to oversee the implementation of IAIFI activities and to expand her responsibilities related to IAIFI’s long-term strategy and funding. July 9, 2025
IAIFI Fellow Michael Albergo and Affiliate Tommi Jaakkola awarded the Best Paper Award at the Frontiers of Probabilistic Inference workshop, ICLR 2025. Read the paper on Openreview. April 28, 2025
IAIFI Fellow Jessie Micallef featured by the MIT School of Science. Read about Jessie’s’ work in “New perspectives on old questions: AI meets particle physics”. December 19, 2024
IAIFI Director Jesse Thaler featured in Physics Today. Read about his discussion with other leaders in industry, government, and academia regarding the potential impact of AI on phsyics, and of physics on AI, in “Physics, AI, and the future of discovery”. November 1, 2024
IAIFI Fellow Carol Cuesta-Lazaro was selected for the 2024 Rising Stars in Physics Workshop. The workshop invites top early career scientists in physics and astronomy to address issues relevant to women looking to successfully transition to their first faculty position. September 24-26, 2024
MIT releases impact paper by IAIFI Senior Investigators Phil Harris and Phiala Shanahan and IAIFI Fellows Gaia Grosso and Siddharth Mishra-Sharma on generative AI in the physical sciences. Read “A Virtuous Cycle: Generative AI and Discovery in the Physical Sciences”. September 18, 2024
IAIFI Junior Investigator Ziming Liu and Senior Investigator Max Tegmark featured in Quanta Magazine. Read about their work on KANs in “Novel Architecture Makes Neural Networks More Understandable”. September 11, 2024