Can AI answer open questions in physics? (opens in new tab)

The joke is that every time that a new AI model comes out, someone throws it at the Collatz conjecture just in case. It’s actually probably not the worst idea, but “nails high-school physics but cannot yet create the theory of everything” is not the most useful description of the level of physics proficiency of AI models. What I need to know is: as of mid-2026, how good is frontier AI at frontier physics exactly?