A general-purpose AI model has reportedly solved a problem that stumped mathematicians for four decades. Not a narrow, purpose-built system trained exclusively on proofs. A general-purpose model, the kind people use to draft emails and argue about pizza toppings.
Mathematician Ernest Ryu used OpenAI’s GPT-5 to tackle a 40-year-old open problem in convex optimization, producing a solution that is now undergoing formal verification. If the proof holds up, it would mark one of the most significant demonstrations yet of AI’s capacity to contribute genuine mathematical discoveries, not just assist with them.
From competition tricks to research-grade breakthroughs
The line between “AI can do math homework” and “AI can do math research” has been blurring for a while now. But recent developments suggest we may have crossed it entirely.
OpenAI’s internal reasoning models have produced over 10 new solutions to Erdős-style combinatorics problems. For the uninitiated, Paul Erdős was one of the most prolific mathematicians in history, and the problems bearing his name are notoriously difficult open questions in combinatorial mathematics. Some of these AI-generated solutions are reportedly being considered for publication in top journals.
