Clarivate announced the launch of Nexus Connect, an AI gateway designed to directly connect university academic resources and services to a general-purpose AI chat agent, including: Chat GPT and Claude.
The company says the new product responds to increasing changes in user behavior, as AI chat agents become the primary workspace for students and researchers. at the same time, model context protocol (MCP) allows AI tools to directly integrate with external data sources. However, Clarivate argues that the proliferation of product-specific MCP services risks sidelining libraries and leaving them without visibility or control over how licensed content is accessed.
Nexus Connect is designed to address this gap by acting as an integrated organizational layer within your AI environment. Leveraging the Clarivate Academic AI Platform, users can maintain institutional identity and control while gaining access to university-approved content and services directly within an AI chat interface. The product joins Clarivate Nexus Extend, a browser-based academic assistant, as part of the company’s broader AI strategy.
said Oren Beit Ally, Clarivate’s senior vice president of academic and government strategy and innovation.
“Libraries are where trusted knowledge resides, and our goal is to ensure that that remains true in an AI environment.
“Nexus Connect is the latest example of our strategic approach to academic AI. We build innovative intelligence into our products, incorporating our carefully curated data and content, while connecting AI users to trusted resources. We are providing institutions with an integration layer that keeps resources and identities in front of students and researchers. Along with Nexus Extend, we keep libraries at the center of research and learning.”
Early institutional support includes: Hong Kong Polytechnic University. University Librarian Shirley Wong said, “User expectations for the speed and ease of use of AI as part of the way they learn and research are rapidly changing. Our priority is to deliver AI in a way that users can trust, based on library resources and expertise. MCP enables us to do that by building trusted AI services within institutional environments.”
Five universities in North America and Asia Pacific will be early adopters, with a broader early access program planned for July 2026.
Nexus Connect’s core capabilities include entitlement-based access to licensed resources, organizational branding within an AI environment, configurable controls over content publication, and enterprise-grade security and privacy.
Initial use cases are focused on academic discovery and end-user library services. Through integration with Clarivate Primo and almausers can search the library’s collection, access digital content, and manage loans, holds, and renewals directly within an AI chat interface. In practice, this allows students to use ChatGPT or Claude to search the university library, access full-text resources, and put physical materials on hold without leaving the conversation.
Future releases are expected to expand functionality to include study guides, study materials, additional Clarivate products, and third-party services across the academic ecosystem.
Clarivate said it is working with leading AI chat agent providers to develop institutional connectors that address key priorities for universities, including ease of deployment, use attribution, and copyright protection. The company added that Nexus Connect is designed to meet organizations’ security and privacy requirements and operates in line with privacy policies and relevant data protection regulations.
Libraries and universities interested in contributing to the development of the product can apply to participate in the early access program.
