OpenAI Forms Math Advisory Group After AI Claims More Than 100 Open Problems Solved

Summary

OpenAI announced an independent Advisory Group on Mathematics and Artificial Intelligence, hosted at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, to give mathematicians more input into the company’s mathematics-focused research. The announcement follows the abrupt publication of what OpenAI described as a solution to the Navier-Stokes Millennium Prize problem. OpenAI also said the same internal model had resolved more than 100 additional open problems spanning most areas of mathematics. The pace and presentation of these results have drawn criticism from prominent mathematicians, including 25 Fields Medal winners who recently signed an open letter warning that AI labs are competing to claim solutions to famous problems and threatening mathematicians’ intellectual work. The group will assess the significance of new results and help coordinate their release. Its nine initial members will be unpaid, may offer unsolicited advice, speak publicly, and control their own membership. However, the group cannot slow or redirect OpenAI’s mathematical research, and OpenAI retains responsibility for decisions about its work. IAS likewise said it has no decision-making power at AI companies. Only one initial member, IAS mathematician Camillo De Lellis, also signed the Fields Medalists’ letter.