Terence Tao: AI companies are harming mathematics

Terence Tao, Fields Medal winner, has publicly criticized how AI companies are approaching mathematical research, arguing they are causing harm to the field. OpenAI's recent solution to the Navier-Stokes problem, one of mathematics' Millennium Prize Problems worth $1 million, prompted his remarks. Tao's core concern is that AI firms are generating new mathematical proofs and discoveries at rapid speed but failing to engage with the deeper work of explaining and unpicking those results. This approach produces outputs without advancing genuine mathematical understanding. Tao's position carries significant weight given his standing as one of the world's foremost mathematicians.