Sci-Hub launches Sci-Bot, an AI chatbot that answers questions by mining its database of pirated academic papers.

Sci-Hub, a website that hosts millions of scientific papers without authorization, has released Sci-Bot, an AI chatbot that retrieves answers from its database and includes references to papers users can access for free. The alpha version answers only one question and does not support follow-up conversations.

Sci-Bot reduces hallucinations (false citations generated by AI) by restricting the bot to references from a finite set of papers in Sci-Hub's collection. Researchers who tested it found it can draw on a broader range of publications than other search tools because it bypasses paywalls; however, it lacks recently published research—one tester noted it retrieved information only until 2021 or 2022.

A 2017 analysis found that Sci-Hub contained more than 90% of all chemistry literature, including almost 99% of all papers published by journals of the American Chemical Society. Around half of all newly published studies remain paywalled despite growth in open-access publishing.