AI makes discoveries in mathematics, computer science, physics, OpenAI says

OpenAI’s announcement is the latest in a series of claimed scientific breakthroughs credited to AI.

Attendees gather at the OpenAI DevDay 2026 conference in San Francisco, US, on September 29, 2026 [Jeff Chiu/AP]

OpenAI has announced that its AI models have made several scientific discoveries in mathematics, computer science and physics.

The AI giant said on Monday that the three new discoveries concerned the fields of harmonic analysis, complexity theory and quantum field theory.

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Among the discoveries, AI models proved the local smoothing conjecture, one of the central propositions of harmonic analysis, in every spatial dimension for the first time, according to OpenAI.

Researchers in harmonic analysis, a branch of mathematics that studies how complex signals and functions can be broken down into elementary waves, had previously only proved the theory in three dimensions.

‘Historic development’

Alex Iosevich, a professor of mathematics at the University of Rochester who specialises in harmonic analysis, said OpenAI appeared to have “cracked” the conjecture in a “historic development”.

“The conjecture was formulated by my PhD adviser, Chris Sogge, so it is near and dear to my heart, and the news was a shock at first,” Iosevich told Al Jazeera.

“Now I am filled with joy and optimism, because the scientific enterprise as a whole is going to make giant leaps as a result of the AI revolution, and we have the chance to be a part of this historic development.”

Iosevich said he expected the field of theoretical mathematics to “change drastically” due to AI.

“I feel a twinge of sadness as a result,” Iosevich said.

“Many theoretical mathematicians I know feel the same way, but I firmly believe that these feelings will soon give way to the realisation that there is so much we can now accomplish.”

“Problems in pure mathematics did not arise in a vacuum,” he added. “Many of them came out of concrete physical considerations, and these connections can now be explored rapidly and decisively.”

According to OpenAI’s announcement, its models also disproved the Exponential Time Hypothesis, which relates to the time it takes to solve complex computational problems, and provided “mathematically rigorous [proof of the] existence” of quantum chromodynamics, which studies the interaction of quarks and gluons.

The ChatGPT creator said it had reached out to scientists outside the company to turn its “raw research data into scientific understanding”.

The San Francisco-based company said it decided on several different methods for releasing the findings based on consultations with three expert groups chosen to act as “shepherds”.

While the groups collaborating on the mathematics and computer science problems opted to make the AI-produced data public immediately, the physics group decided to defer the release in order to write up their own interpretation of the findings, OpenAI said.

“All of these approaches involve tradeoffs,” OpenAI said.

“On the one hand, the collaborations empower experts to foster unpacking the results and contextualizing them in the broader academic community,” the $852bn start-up said.

“On the other hand, choosing initial shepherds necessarily shapes who gets involved first and creates asymmetry of information. We welcome feedback on how to broaden participation and make this process more useful.”

Last month, Claude creator Anthropic announced the discovery of a new enzyme said to resemble CRISPR , the groundbreaking gene editing mechanism used in treating conditions such as cancer and sickle cell disease.

Anthropic’s announcement drew mixed reactions among scientists.

While some researchers hailed the finding as an exciting development, others suggested that the AI company had exaggerated its significance.

OpenAI 的声明是人工智能取得的一系列所谓科学突破中的最新一项。

2026 年 9 月 29 日，与会者齐聚美国旧金山参加 OpenAI DevDay 2026 大会。[Jeff Chiu/AP]

OpenAI宣布，其人工智能模型在数学、计算机科学和物理学领域取得了多项科学发现。

这家人工智能巨头周一表示，这三项新发现涉及调和分析、复杂性理论和量子场论领域。

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OpenAI 表示，在这些发现中，人工智能模型首次在每个空间维度上证明了局部平滑猜想，这是调和分析的核心命题之一。

谐波分析是数学的一个分支，研究如何将复杂的信号和函数分解成基本波。此前，谐波分析领域的研究人员只在三维空间中证明了这一理论。

“历史发展”

罗切斯特大学数学教授亚历克斯·约瑟维奇（Alex Iosevich）专攻调和分析，他表示，OpenAI 似乎已经“破解”了这一猜想，这是一个“历史性的进展”。

“这个推测是由我的博士生导师克里斯·索格提出的，所以它对我来说意义非凡，这个消息起初让我感到震惊，”伊奥塞维奇告诉半岛电视台。

“现在我感到无比喜悦和乐观，因为人工智能革命将使整个科学事业取得巨大飞跃，而我们有机会成为这一历史性发展的一部分。”

约瑟维奇表示，他预计人工智能将给理论数学领域带来“巨大变化”。

“我因此感到一丝悲伤，”伊奥塞维奇说。

“我认识的许多理论数学家都有同样的感受，但我坚信，这种感受很快就会被一种认识所取代，那就是我们现在可以取得很多成就。”

他补充说：“纯数学问题并非凭空产生。许多问题都源于具体的物理考量，而这些联系现在可以得到快速而果断的探索。”

根据 OpenAI 的公告，其模型还推翻了指数时间假设（该假设与解决复杂计算问题所需的时间有关），并提供了“数学上严格的量子色动力学存在性证明”（量子色动力学研究夸克和胶子的相互作用）。

ChatGPT 的创建者表示，他们已与公司外部的科学家联系，以将“原始研究数据转化为科学理解”。

这家总部位于旧金山的公司表示，他们根据与三个被选为“引导者”的专家组的磋商，决定采用几种不同的方法来发布调查结果。

OpenAI 表示，虽然合作解决数学和计算机科学问题的团队选择立即公开人工智能生成的数据，但物理学团队决定推迟发布，以便撰写他们自己的研究结果解释。

OpenAI表示：“所有这些方法都涉及权衡取舍。”

这家估值 8520 亿美元的初创公司表示：“一方面，这些合作使专家能够更好地解读研究成果，并将其置于更广泛的学术界背景下进行分析。”

另一方面，选择最初的负责人必然会影响到谁先参与进来，并造成信息不对称。我们欢迎就如何扩大参与范围、使这一过程更加有效提出反馈意见。

上个月，Claude 的创造者 Anthropic 宣布发现了一种新的酶，据说类似于 CRISPR，CRISPR 是一种突破性的基因编辑机制，用于治疗癌症和镰状细胞病等疾病。

人类学研究所的声明在科学家中引起了不同的反响。

虽然一些研究人员称赞这一发现是一项令人兴奋的进展，但另一些研究人员则认为这家人工智能公司夸大了其重要性。