How a reasoning model cracked an 80-year-old math problem — the OpenAI Podcast Ep. 20

Last month AI found something mathematicians had missed for decades. Reasoning researchers Alexander Wei, Hongxun Wu, and Lijie Chen join the podcast to discuss how a general-purpose model helped disprove an 80-year-old conjecture from famed mathematician Paul Erdős. They walk through the moment the result started looking real, what it took to verify the proof, and what’s happened since sharing the discovery with the world. They also explore what this means for the future of math and for researchers learning to work with AI. Chapters 0:44 AI and the International Math Olympiad and International Olympiad of Informatics 6:35 An OpenAI model disproves the Erdős unit distance conjecture 8:33 Running the model and checking the proof 11:04 Why general models matter for discovery 15:55 Creativity, tools, and how the proof worked 18:25 Why AI should feel empowering for mathematicians 22:31 Advice for researchers using AI 27:24 What comes next for math and AI research 37:30 Cryptography, quantum computing, and the future

Andrew MaynehostLijie ChenguestHongxun WuguestAlexander Weiguest

Jun 4, 202641mWatch on YouTube ↗

EPISODE INFO

Released: June 4, 2026
Duration: 41m
Channel: OpenAI
Watch on YouTube: ▶ Open ↗

EPISODE DESCRIPTION

Last month AI found something mathematicians had missed for decades. Reasoning researchers Alexander Wei, Hongxun Wu, and Lijie Chen join the podcast to discuss how a general-purpose model helped disprove an 80-year-old conjecture from famed mathematician Paul Erdős. They walk through the moment the result started looking real, what it took to verify the proof, and what’s happened since sharing the discovery with the world. They also explore what this means for the future of math and for researchers learning to work with AI. Chapters 0:44 AI and the International Math Olympiad and International Olympiad of Informatics 6:35 An OpenAI model disproves the Erdős unit distance conjecture 8:33 Running the model and checking the proof 11:04 Why general models matter for discovery 15:55 Creativity, tools, and how the proof worked 18:25 Why AI should feel empowering for mathematicians 22:31 Advice for researchers using AI 27:24 What comes next for math and AI research 37:30 Cryptography, quantum computing, and the future

SPEAKERS

Andrew Mayne
host
Host of the OpenAI Podcast who introduces guests and leads the discussion.
Lijie Chen
guest
OpenAI reasoning researcher (formerly an assistant professor at UC Berkeley) discussing AI-assisted mathematics and verification.
Hongxun Wu
guest
OpenAI reasoning research team member with a theoretical computer science background, discussing the model’s math breakthrough and workflows.
Alexander Wei
guest
OpenAI researcher focused on reasoning and inference-time compute, explaining IMO/IOI-style evaluation and the Erdős unit distance result.

EPISODE SUMMARY

In this episode of OpenAI, featuring Andrew Mayne and Lijie Chen, How a reasoning model cracked an 80-year-old math problem — the OpenAI Podcast Ep. 20 explores openAI reasoning model disproves Erdős conjecture, showing discovery potential The team reports that an OpenAI reasoning model generated a credible disproof of Erdős’s unit distance conjecture, a long-standing central problem in combinatorial/discrete geometry.

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