OpenAI claims it solved a 90 year old maths problem after an 88-hour AI effort using 10,000 AI agents in a major maths breakthrough

OpenAI has claimed a major breakthrough on the Navier-Stokes existence and smoothness problem, a mathematical challenge that has remained unresolved for about 90 years. The ChatGPT developer said thousands of AI agents working with a new internal model produced a solution after an 88-hour effort.The problem is one of the seven Millennium Prize Problems identified by the Clay Mathematics Institute. OpenAI said its system addressed two of the four statements required in the proof, but the claimed result has not been independently verified or accepted by the institute.What is Navier Stokes problemThe Navier-Stokes problem concerns equations used to describe the movement of fluids such as air and water. A central question is whether solutions to the equations remain smooth or can develop singularities, in which fluid velocity could become mathematically unbounded.The problem is closely connected with turbulence, a phenomenon that remains difficult to describe mathematically. The Clay Mathematics Institute included the question among its Millennium Prize Problems, with a $1m reward for an accepted solution.OpenAI used 10,000 AI agentsOpenAI said it deployed about 10,000 AI agents to work on the problem using an internal model that it described as more capable than its latest GPT-6 Astra model. The agents operated simultaneously and exchanged almost 3 million messages while producing about 130 billion output tokens.The company estimated that reproducing the computational effort using its pricing for advanced models would cost about $10m. After the agents generated the proposed solution, GPT-6 Astra spent about 17 hours checking it.OpenAI said the project began after researchers heard rumours that two Millennium Prize Problems had been solved. The company then directed the AI systems towards several outstanding mathematical questions before focusing on Navier-Stokes.Mathematical claim faces scrutinyThe announcement has prompted questions from mathematicians. Tristan Buckmaster, a mathematics professor at New York University, said he and Levent Alpöge, a mathematician at Anthropic, had been working on the same problem.Buckmaster raised concerns about whether material from their research could have influenced OpenAI's work because some of their work had been stored using OpenAI's Codex. OpenAI researcher Sebastien Bubeck denied that the company had accessed or used their research.OpenAI said it could not completely exclude the possibility that data from users of its products had contributed indirectly to model improvements.Millennium Prize status remains unchangedOpenAI said it does not intend to claim the Millennium Prize for its result. The Clay Mathematics Institute has not independently verified or publicly accepted the proposed solution.The claim comes as AI systems are being increasingly used for advanced mathematical research. OpenAI said the Navier-Stokes result was intended to demonstrate the progress of its models rather than constitute a claim for the $1m prize.Get the latest Education News and Live updates. Download the TOI app.