Harmonic, an AI startup co-founded by Vlad Tenev, the CEO of Robinhood, has launched the beta version of its chatbot app, Aristotle, for iOS and Android.

The app enables users to access the company’s AI model, which specializes in mathematical reasoning.

Aristotle aims to deliver “hallucination-free” answers in quantitative fields such as mathematics, physics, and computer science.

According to CEO Tudor Achim, the model uses the programming language Lean to verify the accuracy of its responses through an algorithmic process independent of AI.

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🔗 Source: TechCrunch

🧠 Food for thought

1️⃣ Formal verification in AI mathematics has proven challenging even for tech giants

Harmonic’s approach of using formal verification to eliminate hallucinations has significant precedent, but the technical challenges are substantial.

Google developed similar AI theorem-proving technology in 2019 using the HOL-Light theorem prover, achieving a 38.9% success rate when tested on 3,217 new mathematical theorems it hadn’t encountered before1.

While Google’s AI successfully proved 1,251 theorems, the relatively modest success rate demonstrates why Harmonic’s guarantee of “hallucination-free” answers represents such an ambitious technical claim.

The fact that Google’s system succeeded on less than 40% of new problems highlights the inherent difficulty of creating AI that can reliably handle mathematical reasoning across diverse problem types.

This context makes Harmonic’s beta launch particularly significant. If they’ve truly solved the reliability problem that has challenged even Google’s researchers, it would represent a major breakthrough in AI mathematical reasoning.

2️⃣ Mathematical AI attracts premium valuations despite narrow initial scope

Harmonic’s $875 million valuation reflects investor belief that mathematical reasoning capabilities will unlock broader AI applications beyond pure mathematics.

The company’s focus on “mathematical superintelligence” in domains like physics, statistics, and computer science positions it at the foundation of quantitative fields where formal verification could prove most valuable.

Google’s 2019 research showed that mathematicians viewed AI theorem-proving as potentially transformative for daily research, allowing them to “focus on new concepts and questions rather than tedious proof details”1.

This strategic importance explains why leading tech companies are investing heavily in mathematical AI. Success in formal reasoning could provide the foundation for more reliable AI systems across multiple domains.

The high valuation suggests investors see mathematical reasoning as a gateway technology, similar to how natural language processing capabilities eventually enabled broader AI applications.

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