A new Anthropic study analyzes 207,000 Claude sessions, revealing how AI is used in scientific research and its potential to transform discovery.

A report published by Anthropic on November 5, 2026, provides an in-depth analysis of how scientists are leveraging the Claude AI platform to enhance research workflows. The study, based on 207,049 research sessions conducted between August 2 and September 30, 2026, examines the adoption of Claude, Claude Code, and the recently introduced Claude Science across various scientific fields and tasks. The findings highlight the potential of AI to accelerate scientific discovery, particularly in computationally intensive disciplines.

The report reveals that AI adoption is more prevalent in formal sciences such as computer science, mathematics, and statistics, relative to the number of researchers in these fields. In contrast, health sciences and lab-based physical sciences exhibit lower levels of AI use. Data analysis emerges as the most common application, accounting for approximately one-third of Claude sessions and nearly half of Claude Code sessions. Writing is another significant use case, while tasks like idea generation and data gathering are less frequently performed, despite being rated as critical for discovery in an accompanying survey of 528 researchers.

Notably, the specialized Claude Science platform, launched in beta on October 14, 2026, shows a higher share of sessions dedicated to idea generation, suggesting that tailored AI tools can address gaps in current usage patterns. The platform integrates advanced features such as protein and chemical structure rendering, code-linked reproducible outputs, and compatibility with high-performance computing environments.

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