Nobel laureate Omar Yaghi, now a chaired professor at Tsinghua University, has highlighted the transformative role of artificial intelligence (AI) in scientific research.
Yaghi, who won the 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, said in an interview with China Media Group (CMG) that AI accelerates the pace of discovery and is poised to redefine how fundamental research unfolds.
"It certainly will, not only will AI facilitate and speed up the discovery, but also, it will help us identify which materials are going to be better, cheaper and in the fullness of time, greener. Now, once you've done that, by that time, AI will be presenting us with new questions that we wouldn't have thought about. And science is all about questions. It's all about figuring out what is that important question," said Yaghi.
The essence of progress, Yaghi noted, is about posing the most significant and relevant questions, and in this, AI serves as a powerful tool.
"It's about asking the right question. And so AI will help us ask questions, the right questions, hopefully, that we otherwise would not have thought of asking. We see something we inquire about it. We try to see how it could be used to benefit. And in so doing you've collected data and knowledge and that knowledge helps you solve problems. And so AI is going to help us do that a lot faster, a lot better than we've ever done this before," said Yaghi.
AI accelerates pace of scientific discovery: Nobel laureate
China supports enterprises in safeguarding their legitimate rights and interests through legal means, said a Foreign Ministry spokesperson, adding that China is closely following the developments after the UK nationalized British Steel and will do what is necessary to protect its rights.
The spokesperson made the remarks on Saturday when asked to comment on the UK's move to nationalize British Steel.
According to reports, the UK government announced on Thursday that it had nationalized British Steel in accordance with the Steel Industry (Nationalization) Act, taking over the enterprise previously controlled by China's Jingye Group, and will establish a compensation mechanism through secondary legislation, with an independent assessment to determine whether compensation is needed. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer stated that this decision safeguards the future of the UK's steel industry and protects skilled jobs.
"Let me stress that this matter has drawn close attention from the Chinese public," the spokesperson said, noting that how the UK handles this matter will directly influence how Chinese investors view the investment environment in the UK and its government's credibility.
The spokesperson said that China and the UK have signed an agreement concerning the protection of investments, and the legitimate rights and interests of investors must be fully protected in accordance with the law.
"China urges the UK to earnestly respect market principles and the spirit of contract, and find solutions on compensation and other issues acceptable to both sides," the spokesperson added.
On Friday, a Chinese commerce ministry spokesperson said China firmly opposes and expresses strong dissatisfaction over the UK government's decision to nationalize British Steel.
China to do what is necessary to protect its rights after UK nationalizes British Steel: spokesperson
