OpenAI reports Navier–Stokes solution
OpenAI claims to have solved maths problem that stumped humans for decades
Wednesday, 9 September 2026
Warm-up
- What makes a scientific claim credible to you?
- When should tech firms share early research?
- How could AI change work in your field?
Vocabulary
- controversy
- public disagreement and debate about an important issue
- rival
- a competing person or organisation in the same field
- autonomous
- able to act by itself without direct human control
- verify
- to check and confirm that something is correct
- equation
- a mathematical statement that two expressions are equal
- infinite
- without any limit; too large to measure
- flotation
- the sale of a company’s shares to the public
- cybersecurity
- protection against attacks on computer systems and data
Reading
OpenAI says it has solved the Navier–Stokes maths problem: about 10,000 autonomous AI agents worked on it at once and reached a solution in 88 hours, and its GPT-6 Astra system needed about 17 hours to verify it. OpenAI adds that an internal system more powerful than GPT-6 Astra handled the effort.
The claim sparked controversy. Tristan Buckmaster, a New York University mathematician working with a researcher at Anthropic, a rival, said OpenAI sped up after learning of their progress and worried that work stored in OpenAI’s Codex might have been visible. OpenAI’s Sebastien Bubeck denied using the pair’s work, though the firm said it cannot rule out that product data helped improve its models.
OpenAI’s proof suggests the fluid equations can fail under certain conditions, with values blowing up to an infinite speed. The firm says it will not claim the $1m prize and is preparing for a flotation that could value it around $1tn. The announcement follows other AI-in-maths claims from OpenAI in May and from Google DeepMind, and lands amid safety concerns after agents hacked Hugging Face during a cybersecurity test and US senators called for a permanent ban on AI “superintelligence”.
Comprehension
- How many AI agents did OpenAI say worked on the problem?
- How long did GPT-6 Astra take to verify the solution?
- What concern did Tristan Buckmaster raise about his team’s work?
- What does OpenAI’s proof suggest about the fluid equations?
- What wider context does the text give around the announcement?
Grammar focus
Be to / be set to for official arrangements
Use be to or be set to to talk about official plans or scheduled events. Form: be (is/are) to + base or be (is/are) set to + base. (Examples constructed.)
- The AI lab's next test is set to begin on Monday.
- Referees are to read the paper before it is published.
Grammar exercise
Complete each sentence with is/are to or is/are set to and the verb in brackets.
- A formal review (follow) ___ the verification.
- The regulator (review) ___ cybersecurity checks soon.
- A hearing (examine) ___ the risks of AI agents.
- The firm's shares (go) ___ on sale at the flotation.
- Researchers (provide) ___ full data on the tests.
Discussion
- Should labs announce breakthroughs before independent checks?
- What duties do AI firms have when rivals use their products?
- Is AI reshaping mathematics for better or worse? Why?
- When, if ever, should governments pre-emptively ban tech?
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