Why OpenAI Should Buy Off the World’s Top Mathematicians | E32

This Week In Startups is made possible by:

PayPal - Pay zero processing fees on your first $100K in eligible PayPal payment volume. Learn more at https://paypal.launch.co

Today’s show:

OpenAI is claiming to have solved more than 100 math problems on top of Navier-Stokes, and guest Richard Socher thinks it's absurd for mathematicians to push back on AI solving their problems too quickly. Jason and Lon are also joined by Guy Podjarny of Tessl and Jake Loosararian of Gecko Robotics to argue over who wins when AI agents start collaborating with, and potentially replacing, academics and scholars.

Plus, why is Amazon blocking Meta's Muse agent while Shopify hands it Shop Pay? Should we trust Anthropic’s new wet lab? And what’s so exciting about Typesafe’s new text-less model Jev?

Guests:

Guy Podjarny on X: https://x.com/guypod Tessl: https://tessl.io/

Richard Socher on X: https://x.com/RichardSocher?lang=en You.com: https://you.com/

Jake Loosararian on X: https://x.com/jakeloosy Gecko Robotics: https://www.geckorobotics.com/

Relevant Links:

The Eureka Machine by Richard Socher → https://shop.hachettebookgroup.com/products/the-eureka-machine-9781541705708

Shopify and Meta partner so Muse can buy through Shop Pay (Quartz) → https://qz.com/shopify-meta-muse-ai-agent-shop-pay-checkout-092226

Meta’s standoff with Amazon over Muse — https://www.cnbc.com/2026/09/23/metas-standoff-with-amazon-over-muse-comes-ahead-of-meta-connect.html

OpenAI says its internal model solved 100+ math problems on top of Navier-Stokes (The Decoder) → https://the-decoder.com/openai-says-its-internal-model-solved-over-100-long-standing-math-problems-after-just-a-month-of-training/

OpenAI's IAS-hosted advisory group, with Timothy Gowers and Edward Witten (Business Standard) → https://www.business-standard.com/technology/tech-news/openai-s-model-solves-100-maths-problems-company-forms-advisory-group-126092200561_1.html

Timestamps:

0:00 OpenAI claims 100+ solved math problems after Navier-Stokes

0:41 Welcome back to This Week in AI

1:04 Meet the guests: Guy Pigeon, Richard Socher, and Jake Lucier

2:54 Shopify and Meta team up so Muse can check out with Shop Pay

6:19 Why Amazon blocked Muse: ads, habit, and owning the front door

15:13 Do coupons and ads survive one-shot agent shopping?

18:04 OpenAI's internal model resolves 100+ longstanding math problems

26:07 Jason's pitch: pay the top 50 mathematicians $100M each

34:29 Why scientists should be as famous as NBA players

37:41 Anthropic's biology wet lab: can we trust it?

40:59 Why biology is the field AI will transform most

54:22 AI's trust problem and the wealth gap

57:29 The AI Tax and Work Protection Act

1:01:29 Will AI unemployment show up in the data?

1:11:47 TypeSafe AI's Jev: fast, calibrated decisions for software

Subscribe to the TWiST500 newsletter: https://ticker.thisweekinstartups.com

Check out the TWIST500: https://www.twist500.com

Subscribe to This Week in Startups on Apple: https://rb.gy/v19fcp

Follow Lon:

X: https://x.com/lons

Follow Jason:

X: https://twitter.com/Jason

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncalacanis

Check out all our partner offers: https://partners.launch.co/

Great TWIST interviews: Will Guidara, Eoghan McCabe, Steve Huffman, Brian Chesky, Bob Moesta, Aaron Levie, Sophia Amoruso, Reid Hoffman, Frank Slootman, Billy McFarland

Subscribe to our Substack Newsletters!

TWiST: https://twistartups.substack.com/

TWiAI: https://www.thisweekinai.ai/

TWiVC: https://thisweekinvc.substack.com/

Follow TWiST:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/TWiStartups

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thisweekin

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisweekinstartups

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisweekinstartups

Substack: https://twistartups.substack.com