About the Talk:

Fields Medal-winning mathematician Terence Tao makes his second appearance in the OpenAI Forum alongside OpenAI’s SVP of Research, Mark Chen to explore a future where mathematics and artificial intelligence converge to unlock groundbreaking scientific advancements. The conversation, facilitated by James Donovan, Science Policy & Partnerships Lead at OpenAI, will also explore the potential these advancements hold to impact society in positive and transformative ways.

After the recent launch of OpenAI’s o1, the Atlantic’s, Matteo Wong wrote, “Terence Tao described a kind of AI-enabled, 'industrial-scale mathematics' that has never been possible before: one in which AI, at least in the near future, is not a creative collaborator in its own right so much as a lubricant for mathematicians’ hypotheses and approaches. This new sort of math, which could unlock terra incognitae of knowledge, will remain human at its core, embracing how people and machines have very different strengths that should be thought of as complementary rather than competing."

Join us in the Forum for a rare seat at the table for a conversation with two of the world’s most influential researchers, and frontier thinkers. 

The event will begin with a 1-hour discussion, followed by a 30-minute Q&A session, where participants can engage directly with Terence, Mark, and James. The event will conclude with a 45-minute 1:1 networking opportunity, giving attendees the chance to connect with peers and experts.

About the Speakers:

Terence Tao is a professor of Mathematics at UCLA; his areas of research include harmonic analysis, PDE, combinatorics, and number theory. He has received a number of awards, including the Fields Medal in 2006. Since 2021, Tao also serves on the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.

Mark Chen is the Senior Vice President of Research at OpenAI, where he oversees advanced AI initiatives, driving innovation in language models, reinforcement learning, multimodal models, and AI alignment. Since joining in 2018, he has played a key role in shaping the organization's most ambitious projects. Mark is dedicated to ensuring AI developments benefit society while maintaining a focus on responsible research.

James Donovan leads Science Policy and Partnerships in GA, focusing on how our models can best be used to accelerate scientific research & commercialization. He came to OpenAI having been a founder, VC investor and Partner at Convergent Research; where he helped launch multiple moonshot science organizations including the LEAN FRO (an automated theorem prover for complex mathematics).