OpenAI Is Close To Solving Another Millennium Prize Math Problem

Remember when OpenAI landed in hot water earlier this month after mathematicians accused the company of trying to steal their thunder for solving an ultra-difficult math problem? (I know it feels like a million years ago given all the news cycles since then.)

Well, it turns out OpenAI is close to solving another math problem from the Millennium Prize Problems, a set of seven famous math challenges including that earlier “Navier-Stokes existence and smoothness problem,” according to a person with knowledge of the solution.

Employees expect the next problem, known as the Hodge Conjecture, to be solved relatively soon, the person said. The Hodge Conjecture asks whether certain geometric features of shapes defined by polynomial equations can always be described using simpler algebraic pieces. It could take the company longer to announce the solution, though, because it’s trying to figure out how to collaborate with the math community to make the announcement without triggering another PR nightmare, the person said.