AI startup proves quantum computing conjecture, automating theoretical breakthroughs

Physical Superintelligence used an Anthropic model to formally prove the Aaronson-Ambainis conjecture—a foundational 16-year-old problem about quantum speedup—with Lean verification. The system iterated on the proof twice, improving the result without human guidance. This marks a shift from AI assisting human mathematicians to AI autonomously settling open questions in pure mathematics. The speed of normalization matters more than the capability itself. What once took years to move from breakthrough to routine is now compressing into months.