Scientific knowledge is growing faster than any researcher can keep up with. Eric Olson, co-founder and CEO of Consensus, is building an AI-powered search engine designed to help researchers navigate millions of scientific papers, synthesize evidence, and accelerate discovery.
In this episode, Marcel Salathé talks with Eric about the future of scientific literature in the age of large language models. They discuss how AI is changing literature reviews and how Consensus is building trust through evidence-first design. They also explore the evolving role of journals, the rise of AI-native scientific workflows, and whether research papers themselves may soon look very different.
The conversation also offers a candid look at building an AI startup in a rapidly evolving landscape, covering competition with frontier AI models, why focus matters more than “moats,” and what founders can learn from building for one of the world’s most demanding audiences: scientists.

Production :Ethan Nyffenegger