What smart people are saying about OpenAI's Exponential Time Hypothesis claim

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What smart people are saying about OpenAI's Exponential Time Hypothesis claim

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Sam Altman, CEO and cofounder of OpenAI Inc., speaks during a Bloomberg Television discussion at OpenAI DevDay in San Francisco on Tuesday, September 29, 2026.

OpenAI says it solved a famously difficult device problem. Again. Bloomberg/Getty Images

Turns out, OpenAI power be really fine at computers.

On Monday, the business stated it punctured the Exponential Time Hypothesis, or ETH, the nearly 30-year-old condemnation in the device discipline community that several logic problems get overwhelmingly time-consuming as they grow. Hours later, Anthropic released its own investigation refuting ETH.

OpenAI stated it had asked a collection of exterior device scientists to arrange an open assessment of its claim. The researchers have highlighted that their involvement is not an endorsement.

If the AI labs' announcements hold, they would apt reopen the hunt for increasingly capable algorithms — item that device scientists had mostly assumed couldn't get much better.

The ultra-nerdy assertion has been a huge topic of conversation throughout social media and in techie circles. Here's how several of the idea leaders have reacted to OpenAI's announcement:

Ryan Williams, prof of electric engineering and device discipline at MIT

Williams, among the three autonomous algorithm scheme experts who are researching OpenAI's claims, has not certified the company's results.

He wrote on X that, if OpenAI's assertion turns out to be true, the caller findings "should create all device researcher put at smallest a small additional importance on the possible of P = NP," making the business nearer to another potential $1 myriad Millennium Prize Problem.

In additional applicable terms, Williams stated the claimed breakthrough could guide to "faster algorithms."

He has earlier stated that he doesn't accept in ETH.

Gary Marcus, emeritus prof at NYU

Marcus, a common AI skeptic, wrote that this could be "a big agreement if correct," on X.

John D. Cook, Ph.D. and tech adviser in applied mathematics

In a blog post, Cook stated OpenAI's claims — during notable — didn't eventually answer device science's biggest open question.

"The position of P = NP is motionless unknown," he wrote. "While 3-SAT does not obtain exponential time, it motionless takes additional than polynomial period as far as anyone knows."

Joshua Fonseca Rivera, AI Safety Research Fellow at Anthropic

Rivera wrote on X that OpenAI's caller assertion was a reminder that humans could have underestimated a computer's intelligence.

"The bitter instruction should create this unsurprising," he wrote. "I cognize this logically, but... wow, we really don't cognize anything."

Timothy Gowers, professeur titulaire at Collège de France and Fields Medal-winning mathematician

Gowers wrote a blunt obtain on X concerning the development: "Very amazing and consequential that it is false."

Dan Shipper, CEO at Every

Shipper, the AI-pilled chief administrator at a tech startup, wrote on X what everyone alternatively was thinking…

"I regret not getting a Ph.D. in frontier math," he said. "(Not that I always considered getting one but still)."

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Ben Shimkus is a newsman for the Business News desk. He writes concerning cars, transportation, retail, and jobs. Ben's reporting has appeared in Rolling Stone, The Verge, Automotive News, USA Today, AutoBody News, LGBTQ Nation, TopSpeed, and Out Magazine. He's additionally held personnel penning positions at The U.S. Sun and the Daily Mail. He graduated from NYU alongside a Master's in reporting in 2024. Email Ben at [email protected] or communication him privately on Signal at bshimkus.41. 

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