OpenAI claims to have solved the Navier-Stokes problem, one of the seven Millennium Prize Problems that have stumped mathematicians for nearly a century. The announcement, made by OpenAI researchers, states the solution was reached using an internal AI system more powerful than GPT-6 Astra, involving approximately 10,000 AI agents working autonomously for 88 hours. OpenAI's proof suggests that the equations describing fluid movement can fail under specific conditions, occasionally "blowing up" with fluid speeds becoming impossibly infinite.

However, the announcement quickly became controversial. New York University professor Tristan Buckmaster alleged that OpenAI accelerated its work after hearing he and an Anthropic researcher were poised to announce their own breakthrough. Buckmaster noted their work-in-progress was stored in OpenAI's Codex model, potentially making it visible to the company.

OpenAI researcher Sebastien Bubeck denied using the pair's work or accessing shared material. OpenAI acknowledged that data from the researchers' use of their products "may have helped improve our models." Mathematicians who solve Millennium Prize Problems are eligible for a $1 million reward from the Clay Mathematics Institute, though OpenAI stated it does not intend to claim the prize. The breakthrough highlights how advanced AI models are reshaping the field of mathematics, following similar claims by Google DeepMind.