OpenAI claims AI model solved decades-old maths problem

OpenAI announced Tuesday that an unreleased artificial intelligence model has solved the Navier-Stokes existence and smoothness problem, one of seven Millennium Prize Problems, in a claim that could represent a major advance in AI-assisted mathematical research.

The company said the model came up with a proposed solution in 88 hours, with up to 10,000 AI agents working in parallel. OpenAI also published a paper with the proposed proof, as well as a version written in Lean, a programming language for formally verifying mathematical arguments.

The problem is still unsolved and the claim has yet to be accepted . The wider mathematical community has to scrutinize the proof before the problem can be considered solved . Mathematicians had already speculated on the origins of the work before the announcement by OpenAI, according to Scientific American.

The Navier-Stokes problem concerns equations that describe the movement of fluids, such as air and water. It asks whether solutions to the equations stay smooth, or develop singularities, called “blowup.”

The problem was one of seven challenges set by the Clay Mathematics Institute in 2000, each with a $1 million prize for a correct solution. Only one of the seven had been solved before.

Also coming out amid a fight between mathematicians Tristan Buckmaster and Levent Alpoge whose related research was underway when OpenAI rushed their efforts. OpenAI said it had not seen their work before it was released publicly.