In September 2026, OpenAI stated that 10,000 AI agents had obtained a proof of the Navier–Stokes equations in 88 hours—one of the “Millennium Prize Problems.” They describe the motion of fluids and are needed for designing aircraft, forecasting the weather, and studying blood flow.

But the Clay Mathematics Institute has not yet confirmed the result—an independent review is underway. A separate dispute was sparked by mathematician Tristan Buckmaster’s claim that the breakthrough may have relied on his unpublished work. And 25 Fields Medal laureates warned that a stream of rapid “true/false” solutions does not generate new ideas but destroys the conditions for their emergence.

If AI continues to improve, the global economy could enter explosive growth—an “economic revolution,” writes Rostislav Kapeliushnikov, deputy director of the HSE Centre for Labour Market Studies. But another scenario is also possible: widespread automation without explosive growth.

How capable is AI of creating new knowledge, and how will this affect science and the economy— read in RBC’s subscription service.

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