Notably from a general-purpose model rather than a mathematics-specialized one. Altman called it a kinda big milestone evoking complicated feelings.
Development
A general-purpose model disproves Erdős's unit distance conjecture
Claim
An internal OpenAI model disproved Erdős's long-standing planar unit distance conjecture in discrete geometry, contradicting decades of belief that square grids were optimal, with mathematician Arul Shankar noting its reasoning tried a vast array of ideas across mathematics before honing in with what he called original ingenious ideas.
Reporting date: (not necessarily the event date)
Sources
Attribution and reporting linked by this record; links do not imply independent verification.
- Welcome to May 21, 2026 (theinnermostloop.substack.com)
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