{
  "id": 16762383,
  "title": "AI refutes 30-year-old mathematical assumption in computer science",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/27/ai-refutes-30-year-old-mathematical-assumption-in-computer-science",
  "topic": "ai",
  "section": "AI",
  "published": "2026-10-27T15:28:44.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "New Scientist",
    "slug": "new-scientist",
    "url": "https://www.newscientist.com/article/2596045-ai-refutes-30-year-old-mathematical-assumption-in-computer-science/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "OpenAI has declared three groundbreaking discoveries in mathematics, computer science and physics, with the AI models apparently disproving a 30-year-old mathematical assumption. The exponential time hypothesis (ETH), which suggests that the amount of work required to solve logical puzzles grows exponentially as the puzzles become larger, has been challenged by OpenAI's AI. Fedor Fomin, a researcher at the University of Bergen in Norway, expressed astonishment at the finding, stating, \"Nobody I know expected it.\" According to Leslie Goldberg from the University of Oxford, if confirmed, this breakthrough would necessitate a complete revision of several areas of algorithms and complexity. The AI has also contributed to solving a 1991 conjecture in mathematics, regarding the behavior of waves, and has proven that quantum field theories make sense mathematically. These discoveries were announced alongside other significant mathematical and physical breakthroughs in a recent blog post.",
  "summary": "A central tenet in computer science has apparently been disproven by OpenAI, a result that will force textbooks to be rewritten if it is confirmed",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}