AI solves a Millennium Prize math problem, rattling mathematicians
OpenAI's AI agents cracked the decades-old Navier-Stokes blow-up problem, capping a summer of AI math breakthroughs that left mathematicians questioning their field's future.
What to know
- AI agents from OpenAI solved the Navier-Stokes 'blow-up' problem, a Millennium Prize Problem unsolved for over a century, in 88 hours—the first such prize problem cracked in 20 years.
- The solve follows Anthropic's Claude Fable AI disproving the Jacobian conjecture and ChatGPT solving two other major open problems within weeks of each other.
- Terence Tao told the International Congress of Mathematicians the developments have caused 'a crisis in our mathematical values and practices,' questioning what role human mathematicians retain.
- Commentators note AI proofs tend to be convoluted and hard to interpret even when formally verified, raising the question of whether AI math replaces or merely supplements human insight.
“substantial progress”
OpenAI, AI developer · New Scientist ↗ · Sep 10
Terence Tao Mathematician (UCLA, Fields medalist)Andrew Sutherland Mathematician, MITOpenAI AI developerAnthropic AI developer
How it unfolded 2 developments, newest first · click a bar or a number to jump articlespostscomments
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Scientific American surveys mathematicians' anxiety over AI
A feature recapped the summer's AI math breakthroughs and Tao's ICM warning, describing a field grappling with what role humans will play as AI companies race to conquer mathematics to prove progress toward superintelligence.
“mathematicians may be the canary in the coal mine for a lot of other professions…”
— Andrew Sutherland -
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So, turns out # AI actually did plagiarize its solution to a # math problem. I don't like their characterizations as plagiarism machines, but in this case it applies.
2 more of the top 3 · 30 posts in this stretch
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A lot of them probably thought they were “too smart” and the AI would never come for their jobs. Gives a bit of a “first they came for the Jews and I was no Jew so I said nothing…” vibe. It's this and worse: people are pissed about it being their turn while people that they perceive as their lessers aren't suffering more. My entire life, people…
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Isn't the "kill us all" concern met by keeping nukes & essential infrastructure airgapped? This is something that should be the case already, and is certainly urgent if not the case. Instead of doomerism and calls to slow down the development of AI (not gonna happen), the conversation could be pivoted towards thorough threat analysis /…
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WSJ ties the math breakthrough to AI safety fears
The Wall Street Journal published an analysis arguing the Millennium Prize breakthrough demonstrates AI's accelerating and potentially dangerous capability growth.
“It is a very confusing mess right now.”
— Terence Tao, Mathematician, UCLA · source -
A heated dispute is brewing in the scientific community: 24 Fields Medalists are speaking out regarding a severe misalignment of AI in mathematics.
2 more of the top 3 · 7 posts in this stretch
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A Severe Misalignment of AI in Mathematics https:// mathandai.org/ A very powerful open letter, signed by 25 leading mathematicians (all Fields Medalists), on the ways AI corporations rushing to complete problems has been harmful, and the way LLM usage threatens the fruit from the work that grows out mathematical research.
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I am endorsing this declaration about the misalignment between AI and mathematics: — mathandai.org
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background
OpenAI's AI agents solve a Millennium Prize Problem — OpenAI announced its AI agents proved that the Navier-Stokes equations can 'blow up,' resolving a question open since the 1800s and marking the first Millennium Prize Problem solved in 20 years; the agents reached the answer in 88 hours after learning of unpublished progress by human mathematicians.
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background
Terence Tao warns of a 'crisis' in mathematics at ICM — In a keynote lecture titled 'Mathematics in the Age of AI' at the International Congress of Mathematicians in Philadelphia, Tao struck an unusually grave tone about AI's rapid takeover of math research.
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background
AI systems solve major open problems ahead of math congress — Anthropic's Claude Fable AI disproved the longstanding Jacobian conjecture with a tweet-length equation, coming right after ChatGPT solved two other major open problems.
Also covered reported alongside — the timeline has no entry for these yet
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first by New Scientist, 12d ago · also HN Best, HN Frontpage
1 more headline
- A misalignment of AI in mathematics HN Best · 12d ago
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first by HN Frontpage, 12d ago · also WSJ Tech
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first by The Asia Business Daily, 12d ago · also Straits Times
1 more headline
- Top math prize winners warn AI race is threat to field Straits Times · 12d ago
and 9 smaller pieces
What people are saying 18 voices from 4 sites · best of 37 · verbatim
- Sep 15
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An Existential Crisis in Math https://www. theatlantic.com/technology/202 6/09/math-crisis-openai-millennium-prize/688631/?utm_source=flipboard&utm_medium=activitypub Posted into All Stories @ all-stories-TheAtlantic
- Sep 13
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No nothing I said reinforces your argument. And your attempts at using AI to win the argument is just sad. You clearly arnt a researcher if you dont understand what I am saying so I don't know why you are on a ML subreddit. Is this some kind of larp? Also pay attention and realize you are on a machine learning subreddit not some random place with…
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We have the same exact problem in software engineering developing though. The issue is not the current crop of experienced engineers - most of us who have swum in the deep end have had the career existentialism removed with the understanding that there’s years of work to build up the ecosystem and tools for the new world - scalable guardrails…
- Sep 12
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“The success of AI in solving major mathematical problems has made headlines...but solving problems is only a tool and proxy for achieving the primary goal of conceptual understanding and insight. Forgetting this in the world of AI may turn the tool against the primary goal.” - Terence Tao https:// terrytao.wordpress.com/2026/09…
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It doesn't matter, telling people you were trying to solve a problem that was largely regarded to be outside the ability of current mathematics to solve would have caused him to lose a lot of respect as a researcher in his department, probably get him saddled with more teaching responsibilities, less grant money etc. In the worst case it would…
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I think part of the challenge is - if we trained in the gym to specifically move heavy boxes around warehouses, as a career path and as a fundamental foundation of the economy, and suddenly we invented forklifts... Well, should we train people with forklifts or with weight lifting? And maybe further, what if the whole warehouse is now just…
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The "solution" to cancer might very well depend on some mathematical research we haven't found yet. So much research is downstream of mathematical advancements and often we only know decades or centuries later what the downstream advancements are. Riemannian geometry was put forth in the mid 19th century as nothing but a theoretical exercise and…
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Maybe we should drone bomb all the datacenters then? Or just turn off the electricity.Or maybe just do a deep financial audit of all involved companies and investors. Really go into it with a bunch of motivated white collar crime prosecutors. Would be less violent and achieve same level of safety.
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Very editorialised title. Not sure this offers any real value to be honest other than to drum up hype before IPO valuations hit for some of these companies.
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This tracks with my experience. I have assembled a homebrew microbiology lab from various parts from aliexpress and integrated it into my agent harness. Just a year ago it was a complete mess, but current models are extremely good at synthesising novel protein and virus structures. One put me in the hospital not last week, haha! I cant wait to see…
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It seems that, one by one, every bastion against fearmongering click baits shall eventually fall...They might as well rename it to "This one new threat could kill your family"
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Hm, maybe if AI is powerful enough to crack our hardest math problems, we could demonstrate that by cracking one of our hardest math problems. It's not hard to know what they are.
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A Severe Misalignment of AI in Mathematics https:// terrytao.wordpress.com/2026/09 /11/a-severe-misalignment-of-ai-in-mathematics/?utm_source=flipboard&utm_medium=activitypub Posted into Andy Piper's News Picks @ andy-piper-s-news-picks-andypiper
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“As AI companies push their tech to surpass humans in every way possible, we’re all trying to figure out how we fit into the fast-approaching future. That means looking inward, asking why we do the things we do, and how we’re fulfilled by them. It’s a task we shouldn’t procrastinate on—as Andrew Sutherland of MIT put it to me over coffee at the…
- Sep 11
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This reads like Tao’s also mad about the invention of the calculator. The broader point is certainly true: AI co’s have divergent goals (stock pump) from mathematicians https:// terrytao.wordpress.com/2026/09 /11/a-severe-misalignment-of-ai-in-mathematics/
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I am disappointed to see these mathematicians come out against the use of AI to solve major math problems. Math is important, not just a game for professors to play. We should learn what this powerful new tool is capable of, and discover many new things. https://terrytao.wordpress.com/ ...
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A Severe Misalignment of AI in Mathematics New blog post by Terry Tao and a new anti-AI declaration signed by 25 Fields medallists. I'm not sure what the intendent effect should be. The ban of AI use in mathematics and science in general because of “math community
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“we have AI misalignment at home” AI misalignment at home: “AI is solving too many math problems, which is bad for mathematicians” wasn't this guy supposed to be super smart or something