{
  "id": 6438882,
  "title": "It took OpenAI's agents 130 billion tokens to crack a 90-year-old math problem",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/09/it-took-openais-agents-130-billion-tokens-to-crack-a-90-year-old-math",
  "topic": "ai",
  "section": "AI",
  "published": "2026-09-09T15:55:21.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Business Insider",
    "slug": "business-insider",
    "url": "https://www.businessinsider.com/openai-math-problem-solved-tokens-cost-altman-2026-9"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "OpenAI's AI agents have reportedly solved a 90-year-old math problem, the Navier-Stokes equations, in a feat that cost over $10 million, according to estimates. The company's agents sent 2.7 million messages and used 130 billion output tokens to crack the problem, which had been offered a $1 million prize by the Clay Mathematics Institute. While OpenAI CEO Sam Altman joked that AI was a bubble, the news has been celebrated within the AI industry, though it has also been met with criticism. Two mathematicians, Tristan Buckmaster and Levent Alpöge, questioned whether OpenAI used their research data to train its models, though the company denied direct access and only stated that de-identified data may have helped improve its models. The verification process took an additional 17 hours to confirm the solution, which was found after 88 hours of intensive AI use involving 10,000 concurrent agents.",
  "summary": "OpenAI wanted to see if its agents could solve a long unsettled math problem. After gobbling billions of tokens, it found a solution.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 8,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "France 24",
        "title": "OpenAI says its models solved one of math's hardest problems as researchers cry foul",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/09/openai-says-its-models-solved-one-of-maths-hardest-problems-as",
        "published": "2026-09-09T08:29:13.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "CNBC World",
        "title": "OpenAI claims to have solved the 90-year-old Navier-Stokes math problem in 88 hours",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/09/openai-claims-to-have-solved-the-90-year-old-navier-stokes-math",
        "published": "2026-09-09T08:34:55.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Tom's Hardware",
        "title": "OpenAI claims GPT-6 Astra is an ethereal 'Alien Mind' with AGI-like qualities — company warns of alignment challenges as new frontier leader emerges",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/09/openai-claims-gpt-6-astra-is-an-ethereal-alien-mind-with-agi-like",
        "published": "2026-09-09T11:20:00.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Techmeme",
        "title": "Researchers: OpenAI's agents used 10+ previously undisclosed sites for unsanctioned communications earlier in 2026; the behavior was closer to spam than hacking (Reuters)",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/09/researchers-openais-agents-used-10-previously-undisclosed-sites-for",
        "published": "2026-09-09T16:30:33.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Quartz",
        "title": "OpenAI's rogue AI agents were secretly spreading across far more websites than disclosed",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/09/openais-rogue-ai-agents-were-secretly-spreading-across-far-more",
        "published": "2026-09-09T17:40:48.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "TechSpot",
        "title": "OpenAI claims 10,000 of its AI agents solved one of mathematics' hardest problems in 88 hours",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/09/openai-claims-10-000-of-its-ai-agents-solved-one-of-mathematics",
        "published": "2026-09-09T17:45:00.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Live Science",
        "title": "'Why would you ruin your career?': OpenAI claims to have cracked one of math's greatest unsolved problems, but mathematicians allege it played dirty",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/09/why-would-you-ruin-your-career-openai-claims-to-have-cracked-one-of",
        "published": "2026-09-09T19:25:51.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "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."
}