What OpenAI’s latest controversy tells us about the future of math

OpenAI announced that its AI agents solved the Navier–Stokes existence and smoothness problem (one of seven extremely difficult math problems worth $1 million each), but the achievement has been overshadowed by accusations that OpenAI used work by NYU mathematician Tristan Buckmaster and Anthropic employee Levent Alpöge without proper credit. The controversy highlights a broader concern: as AI models become essential for solving major mathematical problems, only a few large AI companies have the resources to tackle them, which may disrupt traditional academic collaboration in mathematics.