OpenAI Is Beefing With Mathematicians, Will No Longer Sponsor Caltech ‘Mathathon’
The letter added AI-driven “slop mathematics” effectively constitute research misconduct, as it consumes the work of research mathematicians and uses it to scoop them on solutions without contributing to understanding. The Mathathon in particular would have “destructive impacts for the mathematical community,” it warned. That coincided with OpenAI’s claim this week that it had solved the Navier-Stokes Problem, a longstanding question on predicting the movement of fluids.
- ▪The letter added AI-driven “slop mathematics” effectively constitute research misconduct, as it consumes the work of research mathematicians and uses it to scoop them on solutions without contributing to understanding.
- ▪The Mathathon in particular would have “destructive impacts for the mathematical community,” it warned.
- ▪That coincided with OpenAI’s claim this week that it had solved the Navier-Stokes Problem, a longstanding question on predicting the movement of fluids.
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| Publication time | Sat, 12 Sep 2026 01:05:18 +0000 |
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What mathematicians are calling “destructive,” OpenAI calls “disruptive.” OpenAI research lead Dan Roberts tweeted on Thursday that the firm would be yanking its sponsorship of the Caltech Mathathon, an upcoming event where 100 teams of mathematicians will compete to provide the best answer to the question, “How can we responsibly use AI tools to augment human understanding of…
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