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Why I didn't sign Fields medallists' letter
The gist
Mathematician Timothy Gowers published a blog post explaining why he did not sign the 25 Fields medallists' letter on AI and maths.
His refusal highlights a split over how the mathematical community should respond to AI's growing role.
How it unfolded
- Sep 7, 2026Buckmaster and Alpöge released results on related problems and three draft papers totaling 245 pages, the day before OpenAI's announcement.
- Sep 8, 2026OpenAI announced its internal model solved the Navier-Stokes equations problem in 88 hours, supported by about 10,000 Agents; the model was not open to the public.
- Sep 11, 2026Terence Tao posted that 25 Fields Medal laureates signed an open letter criticizing AI companies' benchmark-driven approach to mathematics, directly targeting OpenAI.