On: “Math 2.0” will need to value mathematical progress more holistically

They aren't trying to 'solve' chess, go, or mathematical proofs as an end in themselves, but mainly in order to learn more about how to build better systems overall. The goal of AlphaZero was ultimately as a stepping stone towards AGI, and it's the same with LLMs.

The assumption being that 1. these things are all stepping stones, not diversions 2. that ai labs have a singular goal of producing agi

It's not an assumption, many of the people behind these projects explicitly say this what they are doing and why.

That’s still an assumption. Since when do you uncritically believe what people are saying without taking into account the different external drivers on those people.

You can believe they believe they are telling the truth or that they have good intentions while still being skeptical of the effective trajectory.