The Download: beyond CRISPR, and OpenAI's superalignment findings

The news: Google DeepMind has used a large language model to crack a famous unsolved problem in pure mathematics. The researchers say it is the first time a large language model has been used to discover a solution to a long-standing scientific puzzle--producing verifiable and valuable new information that did not previously exist. Why it matters: Large language models have a reputation for making things up, not for providing new facts. Google DeepMind's new tool, called FunSearch, could change that. It shows that they can indeed make discoveries--if they are coaxed just so, and if you throw out the majority of what they come up with.