Our First Proof submissions

2026-02-13 · Source: OpenAI News · Field: Technology & Digital — Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning, AI Reasoning · Depth: Expert, short

Summary

OpenAI has submitted proof attempts for all ten problems in the First Proof challenge, a research-level math challenge designed to test AI systems' ability to produce correct, checkable proofs in specialized domains. The company shared its attempts on February 14, 2026, and believes at least five of the model's proofs (problems 4, 5, 6, 9, and 10) have a high chance of being correct, with others under review. An initial belief that problem 2's attempt was correct was later revised to incorrect based on official commentary. OpenAI emphasizes that frontier research like First Proof is crucial for evaluating next-generation AI models, as it stress-tests capabilities such as sustained reasoning, abstraction, and handling ambiguity, which benchmarks often miss. This effort builds on previous achievements, including gold medal-level performance on the International Mathematical Olympiad in July 2025 and contributions to scientific research with GPT-5 and GPT-5.2.

Key takeaway

For AI Researchers focused on advanced reasoning, this demonstrates that current models can tackle complex, research-level mathematical proof generation. You should consider integrating these models into your research workflows for problems requiring sustained reasoning and abstraction, while planning for expert review and iterative refinement to ensure correctness and rigor. This capability suggests a shift towards AI as a collaborative partner in mathematical discovery.

Key insights

AI models are demonstrating increasing capability in generating complex, verifiable mathematical proofs for frontier research problems.

Principles

• Frontier research evaluates AI beyond benchmarks.
• Expert scrutiny is vital for AI-generated proofs.

Method

Models were run with limited human supervision, sometimes guided to retry strategies or clarify proofs after expert feedback, and facilitated back-and-forth with ChatGPT for verification.

In practice

• Use AI for end-to-end mathematical arguments.
• Incorporate expert feedback for proof refinement.

Topics

• AI Proof Generation
• Mathematical Reasoning
• Frontier AI Research
• AI Model Evaluation
• Advanced Reasoning Models

Best for: AI Researcher, AI Scientist, Research Scientist

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Editorial summary, takeaway, and curation by AIssential. Original article published by OpenAI News.