Clarivate launches Nexus Connect to bring library resources into AI chat environments
Clarivate has announced the launch of Nexus Connect, an AI gateway designed to connect universities’ academic resources and services directly into general-purpose AI chat agents such as ChatGPT and Claude.
The company says the new offering responds to a growing shift in user behaviour, as AI chat agents increasingly become the primary workspace for students and researchers. At the same time, the emergence of Model Context Protocol (MCP) has enabled AI tools to integrate directly with external data sources. However, Clarivate argues that the proliferation of product-specific MCP services risks sidelining libraries, leaving them without visibility or control over how licensed content is accessed.
Nexus Connect is designed to address this gap by acting as a unified institutional layer within AI environments. Powered by the Clarivate Academic AI Platform, it enables users to access university-licensed content and services directly within their AI chat interface, while maintaining institutional identity and control. The product sits alongside Clarivate Nexus Extend, a browser-based academic assistant, as part of the company’s broader AI strategy.
Oren Beit-Arie, Senior Vice President, Strategy & Innovation, Academia & Government at Clarivate said:
“Libraries are where trusted knowledge lives, and our goal is to make sure that remains true in AI environments.
“Nexus Connect is the latest example of our strategic approach to academic AI – embedding transformative intelligence into our products, containing our carefully curated data and content, while connecting AI users to trusted resources. We are providing institutions with a unified layer that keeps their resources and identity in front of students and researchers. Alongside Nexus Extend, it keeps libraries at the center of research and learning.”
Early institutional support includes The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Shirley Wong, University Librarian, said: “User expectations are changing fast as they want the speed and ease of AI as part of how they study and research. Our priority is to bring AI to users in a way they can trust, grounded in the library’s resources and expertise. MCP lets us do that, by building trusted AI services within our institutional environment.”
Five universities across North America and APAC are set to be early adopters, with a broader early access programme scheduled for July 2026.
Nexus Connect’s core capabilities include entitlement-based access to licensed resources, institutional branding within AI environments, configurable controls over content exposure, and enterprise-grade security and privacy.
Initial use cases focus on academic discovery and end-user library services. Through integrations with Clarivate’s Primo and Alma, users can search library collections, access digital content, and manage loans, holds and renewals directly within their AI chat interface. In practice, this allows a student using ChatGPT or Claude to search their university’s library, access full-text resources, or place holds on physical materials without leaving the conversation.
Future releases are expected to expand functionality to include research guides, teaching materials, additional Clarivate products, and third-party services from 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, usage attribution and copyright protection. The company added that Nexus Connect has been designed to meet institutional requirements for security and privacy, operating in line with its privacy policy and relevant data protection regulations.
Libraries and universities interested in contributing to the product’s development can apply to join the early access programme.