GPT-5.6 Cracked the Same Quantum Crypto Problem Twice — Three Hours Apart

GPT-5.6 Sol Ultra helped two independent teams solve an open quantum cryptography problem — unclonable encryption — three hours apart. MIT PhD student Seyun Ragan and professors from UC Santa Barbara and UCLA were working in parallel, unaware of each other, using different approaches but the same model.

This reframes the very concept of independent discovery: when all scientists work with the same tool, coincidence becomes pattern. AI is no longer a supporting utility — it's setting the pace and direction of thought across all of science at once.