AI Summary
5 min readOpenAI Solved a Millennium Prize Problem, and Other News
OpenAI announced today that one of its internal models solved a millennium prize problem — the Navier-Stokes existence and smoothness question, a fundamental problem about the equations that describe how liquids and gases move. The company published a 165-page proof verifying the argument step-by-step, and said it took as many as 10,000 AI agents about 88 hours to complete the work. It is the first time an AI has solved one of the seven most difficult unsolved questions in mathematics.
The Math Breakthrough
The Navier-Stokes problem is one of the seven millennium prize problems, a set of questions the Clay Mathematics Institute designated as the hardest open problems in the field. Mathematicians have tried and failed to solve it for decades. WSJ science of success columnist Ben Cohen said that while AI labs have been using math to demonstrate their models' growing capabilities for some time, this represented a different order of achievement. "People inside the math world would always say, okay, this is all great. These breakthroughs are amazing in their own right, but wake me up when it solves a millennium prize problem," Cohen said. "Well, now we've all been woken up and a millennium prize problem has been solved."
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What you'll learn
- 1 (01:17) **Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie Bunch III Announces Retirement** - Bunch, the first African American and first historian to lead the institution, will leave by year-end after tensions with President Trump over the portrayal of U.S. history.
- 2 (01:44) **New York City Releases Documents on Toxic Conditions After 9/11** - Officials published records detailing what the city knew about hazardous air quality at Ground Zero, with Mayor Adams stating more have died from related illnesses than the nearly 3,000 killed on 9/11.
- 3 (03:02) **12 Countries Impose Trade Restrictions on Israel Over West Bank Settlements** - The UK, Canada, France, and Norway are among nations stopping direct trade with settlements, prompting Israel to retaliate by closing the British consulate in East Jerusalem.
- 4 (04:08) **Shipping Group Warns of Threats to Global Supply Chains** - The Consultative Shipping Group of 18 major nations warns that conflicts and shadow fleets are eroding freedom of navigation and sending costs higher.
- 5 (04:29) **Oil Prices Rise Above $99 After Houthi Attacks on Saudi Energy Infrastructure** - Houthi militants fired drones and missiles at gas and oil storage facilities, though oil futures later closed just under $98 a barrel.
- 6 (04:47) **Stock Markets Fall, Led by Dow and Biotech Amgen** - The Dow declined 1.2%, with Amgen dropping 10% in its worst one-day decline since 2000 after Novartis suffered a setback in a heart disease drug trial.
- 7 (05:53) **OpenAI Claims to Solve Millennium Prize Math Problem** - OpenAI says one of its internal models solved the Navier-Stokes equations, a fundamental question about fluid and gas movement, using up to 10,000 AI agents over 88 hours.
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Guests on this episode
Show Notes
P.M. Edition for Sept. 8. OpenAI says it’s cracked the Navier-Stokes problem, one of the seven Millennium Prize Problems that are the deepest and most difficult unresolved questions in mathematics. WSJ Science of Success columnist Ben Cohen explains why labs like OpenAI are competing—and spending millions—for such breakthroughs. Plus, a dozen nations are imposing new trade restrictions on Israel over the expansion of settlements in the West Bank. And Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie Bunch III, the first African-American and the first historian to lead the institution, is stepping down after more than a year of tension with President Trump. Alex Ossola hosts.
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