Campus pilots of AI‑driven research tools—from AlphaFold’s protein structures to emerging AI co‑scientists—are accelerating calls for broader, equitable access within the scientific community. Developers behind AlphaFold say the freely available database has already supported millions of researchers globally and argue that open access is critical for discovery in low‑resource settings. At the same time, AI tutoring and feedback platforms—exemplified by Snorkl AI—are entering classrooms to provide near‑instant feedback, making student thinking visible and shifting instructor workflows. Institutions are experimenting with these tools to reduce grading lag and target misconceptions in large courses. Universities are confronting governance questions: how to license models, protect research data, and ensure reproducibility while expanding access to powerful computational tools. Funding and procurement groups must decide whether to prioritize commercial enterprise contracts or invest in open research infrastructure. Research offices and teaching centers face simultaneous pressures to scale AI responsibly for labs and classrooms—open‑access models and institutional compute grants are likely to determine who benefits from next‑generation research accelerants.