Terence Tao on 'war footing' as OpenAI claims Navier-Stokes solve rattles mathematicians
willknight · x · 2026-10-18
A New York Times deep-dive on Fields Medalist Terence Tao, who says he's 'on a war footing' after OpenAI announced it had solved the Navier-Stokes problem — one of the seven Millennium Prize Problems — and released 350+ findings. Tao says 'there are no rules any more' and that once jaw-dropping events now leave him numb. He spends most of his time as math's unofficial spokesman rather than doing math. Tao suggests mathematicians may find creative ways to use AI, working 'in large groups collaborating on once-unimagined projects' — but Will Knight notes the obvious question: won't AI companies then just train algorithms to do the same?
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