OpenAI withdraws from Caltech math competition amid researcher backlash

OpenAI has faced significant backlash from the mathematical community following its recent breakthroughs in solving complex problems, including the 1845 Navier-Stokes equation. While the ability of AI to develop long chains of reasoning without hallucination marks a major technical milestone, it has sparked an existential crisis among researchers.

In response to the Caltech Mathathon, a student-led competition, OpenAI withdrew its $1 million sponsorship after 771 mathematicians signed an open letter criticizing the event. The signatories labeled the phenomenon “slop mathematics,” arguing that AI companies are engaging in “research misconduct” by forcing human mathematicians to perform the uncompensated work of verifying, disseminating, and correcting AI-generated results.

While OpenAI has withdrawn from the competition to seek better ways to integrate with the community, Anthropic has remained a sponsor. Prominent mathematicians, including Fields Medalist Terence Tao, have expressed profound concern regarding the shifting role of human researchers in an era where AI can rapidly tackle long-standing scientific questions.