The aim is to put the power of PatternBoost, which was used to crack a hard math puzzle known as the Turán four-cycles problem, in the hands of anyone who can install Axplorer on their own computer.

Last year, the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency set up a new initiative called expMath—short for Exponentiating Mathematics—to encourage mathematicians to develop and use AI tools. Axiom sees itself as part of that drive.

Breakthroughs in math have enormous knock-on effects across technology, says Charton. In particular, new math is crucial for advances in computer science, from building next-generation AI to improving internet security.

Most of the successes with AI tools have involved finding solutions to existing problems. But finding solutions is not all that mathematicians do, says Axiom Math founder and CEO Carina Hong. Math is exploratory and experimental, she says.