PSI is trying to make a business out of AI-driven scientific discovery

Summary

• David Turturean, an MIT graduate and technical staff member at Physical Superintelligence (PSI), used Anthropic's Fable 5.2 model to solve the eighteen-year-old Aaronson-Ambainis conjecture regarding quantum computing.
• Turturean deferred plans for a master's degree at MIT to join PSI and stated he might not publish further papers given the capabilities of AI models.
• Scott Aaronson, who posed the conjecture, believes the proof is correct because it was autoformalized in Lean and reviewed by a team of top researchers.
• The solution represents a negative result indicating that quantum computers cannot solve certain difficult problems at high speed via the specific avenue previously considered.
• PSI employs specialized model harnesses & scaffolding to solve scientific problems, aiming to address issues with breadth & depth.
• PSI currently generates revenue by optimizing data centers through simulations of heat, power, water, & sound variables.
• The company's long-term goal involves converting theoretical physics breakthroughs into actual technologies.
• Matt Pines, PSI CEO, noted that while theoretical physics is not yet mostly the domain of machines, it is moving in that direction.
• Applying AI to less abstracted disciplines like physics remains more difficult than in fields such as mathematics where results can be expressed in validated code.
• Discovered Materials recently launched a $1 million grand challenge for researchers using AI to understand superconductivity & heat dissipation.
• Pines emphasized that physics differs from math because nature validates models of reality, requiring computational results to be confirmed through experiments.
• PSI operates as a "neolab for science" and held its results until Anthropic's model was nearly ready for release to allow for expert review.
• Jim Halverson, a professor at Northeastern University advising PSI, stated that best practices for this new scientific pace are still emerging & transparency is a priority.
• Turturean reviewed the AI-elicited solution to present it naturally for humans & acknowledged the weight of what AI can achieve.