Google claims math breakthrough with proof-solving AI models

Enlarge / An illustration provided by Google. (credit: Google)

On Thursday, Google DeepMind announced that AI systems called AlphaProof and AlphaGeometry 2 reportedly solved four out of six problems from this year's International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO), achieving a score equivalent to a silver medal. The tech giant claims this marks the first time an AI has reached this level of performance in the prestigious math competition—but as usual in AI, the claims aren't as clear-cut as they seem.

Google says AlphaProof uses reinforcement learning to prove mathematical statements in the formal language called Lean. The system trains itself by generating and verifying millions of proofs, progressively tackling more difficult problems. Meanwhile, AlphaGeometry 2 is described as an upgraded version of Google's previous geometry-solving AI modeI, now powered by a Gemini-based language model trained on significantly more data.

According to Google, prominent mathematicians Sir Timothy Gowers and Dr. Joseph Myers scored the AI model's solutions using official IMO rules. The company reports its combined system earned 28 out of 42 possible points, just shy of the 29-point gold medal threshold. This included a perfect score on the competition's hardest problem, which Google claims only five human contestants solved this year.