LLM proof assistants accelerated Lean libraries; mathematicians adopted hybrid human–machine flows.
The Lean 4 ecosystem, with mathlib and autoformalizing LLMs, lowered friction for machine-checkable proofs.
Papers began including formal artifacts. Culture shifted: “proved” can also mean “verified in Lean.”
That infrastructure is indispensable for evaluating spectacular 2026 announcements on Millennium problems.
Before OpenAI’s announcement, analytic programs on singularities and forced blow-up in fluid equations were already pushing the frontier.
Since 2000, the Clay Mathematics Institute lists seven problems; Navier–Stokes existence and smoothness is one, with a one-million-dollar prize.
In September 2026 OpenAI’s agent announcement on Navier-Stokes reopened credit debates with Buckmaster and Alpoge’s Euler work; Clay/Millennium verification remains in progress and OpenAI said it is not claiming the prize.