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AI cracks decades-old maths — OpenAI and DeepMind, days apart
Two milestones in one week. Here's the brief.
The FeaturedDaily DeskVerified May 2026
In May 2026 OpenAI disproved an Erdős conjecture; Google's AI solved nine more.
What happened. On 20 May, OpenAI said a general reasoning model disproved the planar unit-distance conjecture (Erdős, 1946), using algebraic number theory rather than the long-assumed grid. A day later, Google DeepMind posted that AlphaProof Nexus (Gemini 3.1 Pro + Lean) had solved nine open Erdős problems and 44 conjectures.
Why it's credible. DeepMind's results are verified step-by-step in the Lean proof assistant — the model proposes, the checker certifies. OpenAI's was checked by mathematicians including Timothy Gowers, with formal peer review still to come (attribute, don't assert).
Sources
- An OpenAI model has disproved a central conjecture in discrete geometry — OpenAI, 20 May 2026
- OpenAI's milestone math breakthrough played to AI's strengths — Understanding AI, 22 May 2026
- Google DeepMind's AlphaProof Nexus solves 9 Erdős problems and 44 conjectures — Crypto Briefing, 26 May 2026