OpenAI says it's close to another Millennium Prize problem after beating NYU mathematician on Navier-Stokes
calabi_and_yau · x · 2026-09-10
A New York Times longread by Kenneth Chang details the academic fallout from AI labs racing to solve Millennium Prize problems:
- NYU mathematician Tristan Buckmaster and a collaborator made major progress in August on a Navier-Stokes puzzle
- Rumors that Anthropic had solved one or two Millennium problems spurred OpenAI to attack the same list ($1M per proof, rigorous review required)
- In under a week, OpenAI announced on Tuesday it had solved Navier-Stokes, beating Buckmaster and the world's human mathematicians — and confirmed it is "close to solving another Millennium Prize problem"
- The episode ignited a social media firestorm over perceived threats and dangling prizes; Buckmaster described feeling run over by one of the world's most powerful companies
The milestone signals frontier AI beginning to systematically outpace top human mathematicians on elite proofs.
Related event: OpenAI's Costly Navier-Stokes Run Sparks Scooping and Brute-Force Debate(26 posts)→
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