AI solves one of math’s hardest problems in 88 hours, says OpenAI

OpenAI claims that one of its unreleased artificial intelligence models has solved the Navier-Stokes problem, a complex mathematical puzzle. According to OpenAI, the model used 10,000 AI agents working for 88 hours, involving millions of dollars in computing power. The Navier-Stokes problem is one of the seven Millennium Prize Problems established by the Clay Mathematics Institute, offering a $1 million prize for the first correct solution.

However, some mathematicians have raised questions about OpenAI's account of events. NYU mathematics professor Tristan Buckmaster, who collaborated with Anthropic mathematician Levent Alpöge on a proof of the problem, stated that OpenAI's team had become aware of their progress and claimed to have already achieved a full proof. But when Buckmaster asked follow-up questions about OpenAI's research and human input, the answers became evasive.

The details of OpenAI's achievement are disputed, with some rivals contesting their account of events before the proof was published. According to Punch, OpenAI made the claim on Tuesday, but TechCrunch reports that Buckmaster and Alpöge had been working on a proof and learned that OpenAI had been informed of their progress.

Brief written by urgent.news from Punch, Fortune, Quartz, TechCrunch, Techmeme — 5 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.