The inside story behind OpenAI’s million-dollar math proof

AI’s solution to the Navier-Stokes problem, and the details of how it happened, preview a chaotic future for math—and the world Room 109 of New York University’s Warren Weaver Hall wasn’t ready for what hit it. A half hour ahead of a special seminar scheduled for 3:30 P.M., attendees hoping to snag a seat already packed the hallway outside. When the doors opened, they all surged in, some climbing over rows of chairs to secure a good spot. Soon every inch of floor and both aisles were filled, with late-arriving onlookers trailing out the entrances. “Surely this is the most people this hall has ever seen,” I heard one bystander say. “This is no ordinary seminar. This is a rock concert,” said another. The headliner was N.Y.U. mathematician Tristan Buckmaster.