OpenAI vs Anthropic: The Race to Solve Physics

OpenAI says its AI proved that the theory behind the strong force, the glue inside every atom, really exists as mathematics. It's half of one of the seven million-dollar Millennium Prize Problems, and a question even Richard Feynman doubted. But the 1,147-page proof is locked away with five scientists, led by Nobel laureate David Gross, and the world found out seven weeks after the AI did. In this video: what the Yang–Mills problem is, why physicists used a theory for fifty years without knowing if the math holds together, the race between OpenAI and two researchers using Anthropic's Claude, and what it means when the biggest scientific results start inside a company. 0:00 Intro 1:20 The Glue 4:22 The Race 5:23 The Drawer 6:51 What Changes 8:46 The Bigger Picture As of November 8, 2026, the proof has not been released or independently verified. The mass gap, the other half of the prize problem, remains open. Levent Alpöge's and Ethan Sussman's quotes are their own; Alpöge works at Anthropic. Reporting drawn from OpenAI, the Yang–Mills working group at KITP, Scientific American, AGMAI, Peter Woit's blog, the Clay Mathematics Institute, the Nobel Foundation, and Levent Alpöge's and Ethan Sussman's public posts. Footage used for commentary and documentary purposes: World Science Festival, Simons Foundation, Vega Science Trust / University of Auckland, Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics, Sabine Hossenfelder, CSSM University of Adelaide, Clay Mathematics Institute, CERN, ETH-Bibliothek Zürich, AIP Emilio Segrè Visual Archives, Wikimedia Commons. Social X - https://x.com/davelee Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dave-lee-on-investing/id1493031991 Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/2iin015s0k21Bt4ldep9XT?si=uBV4Ft8hQEu_GE4YSIDDGg Instagram https://www.instagram.com/heydave7 Dave Lee on Parenting, https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWD9b1BZqi2G2u30sGYIFrA NOTE: Please don’t fall for scammers who might impersonate me or others in the comment section. I do NOT give out my number or ask people to contact me. 💁🏻‍♂️ Disclaimer: All content on this channel is for discussion and illustrative purposes only and should not be construed as professional financial advice or recommendation to buy or sell any securities. Should you need such advice, consult a licensed financial or tax advisor. All views expressed are personal opinion as of date of recording and are subject to change without responsibility to update views. No guarantee is given regarding the accuracy of information on this channel. Neither host or guests can be held responsible for any direct or incidental loss incurred by applying any of the information offered. Author is long TSLA and other stocks at time of original video publish date.

Subscribe to Dave Lee on Investing on Soundwise