OpenAI's Navier-Stokes proof: Lean 4 verification in 17 hours vs 132,800 person-hours

jedisct1 · x · 2026-09-11

Alongside its human-readable proof settling a long-standing Navier-Stokes question, OpenAI also posted a Lean 4 formal proof. By the 2005 rule of thumb (one week per textbook page), formalizing the 166-page paper would take 132,800 person-hours; OpenAI verified it in 17 hours — a four-orders-of-magnitude cost drop that John D. Cook calls revolutionary.

Related event: OpenAI's Navier-Stokes Proof Verified in Lean Within 17 Hours(3 posts)→

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