A web developer used AI agents to settle a 50-year-old conjecture.
Dan Abramov, a well-known web developer, published a machine-checked proof of Conway's refinement conjecture on 18 September. He steered ChatGPT and Claude for five weeks, burning about $40,000 worth of tokens. A proof-checking program accepts the result, but no mathematician has reviewed it yet.
Why it mattersMachines can now certify a proof that no human has read, which changes who gets to do mathematics. It also puts a price on a hard result: five weeks and the cost of a used car.
▶ Related video: John Horton Conway | The surreal numbers
Read in the app — free, in 9 languages
Related stories
Fifty AI agents built a Minecraft town and invented bureaucracy.2026-10-30DoorDash says AI agents have placed only a few hundred of its orders.
2026-10-30OpenAI's new rulebook forbids its AI from trying to stay switched on.
2026-10-30OpenAI says its new monitors would have caught its own breach early.
2026-10-30A worker's personal Claude agent sat on a Pentagon network for months.
2026-10-30