OpenAI Forms Independent Math Advisory Group and Says New Model Solved Over 100 Open Problems

OpenAI announced on September 22 the creation of an Advisory Group on Mathematics and Artificial Intelligence, based at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton and composed of nine mathematicians. The group will operate independently of OpenAI and may advise on the review and communication of emerging mathematical results, academic standards, and ways OpenAI tools can support mathematical research and learning.

In the same announcement, OpenAI said a model it began training on August 28 has solved more than 100 long-standing open problems in mathematics, including the Navier-Stokes millennium prize problem. The company said the pace of progress surprised its own mathematicians and prompted internal discussions about how best to inform the academic community.

OpenAI described mathematics as a foundational science and said AI discoveries in the field could have broad applications, which calls for a more cautious approach to development and deployment. The company is studying ways to deploy mathematics-related AI capabilities more broadly. The announcement follows an open letter from mathematicians including Terence Tao, Yu Deng and Peter Scholze expressing concern about the use of solved math problems as a benchmark for AI systems.

The inaugural members are François Charles, Camillo De Lellis, Timothy Gowers, Martin Hairer, Nikhil Srivastava, Ulrike Tillmann, Ravi Vakil, Edward Witten and Melanie Matchett Wood. Gowers, Hairer and Witten are Fields Medalists.