Mathematicians issue a major challenge to AI—show us your work
scientificamerican.com
February 11, 2026
3 min read
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Summary
Top mathematicians have issued a challenge to AI systems to solve a set of unsolved mathematical problems within a week, as part of an initiative called “First Proof.” These problems are newly formulated and are not present in any large language model's training data.
Key Takeaways
- Mathematicians have launched an exam called "First Proof" to challenge AI systems with unsolved mathematical problems relevant to their research.
- The exam consists of problems contributed by 11 mathematical experts, with encrypted proofs to be decrypted after the AI's responses are submitted.
- Previous AI achievements in mathematics include Google’s Gemini Deep Think scoring gold on the International Mathematical Olympiad and Axiom Math solving several research-level questions.
- The challenge aims to evaluate AI's potential as a tool for assisting mathematicians with routine tasks rather than solving major open problems.
Coverage & discussions
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