AI Boosters Mock Terence Tao With 'Fries in the Bag' Meme, Sparking Backlash

On September 23, a wave of mockery targeting mathematician Terence Tao and the ensuing backlash erupted simultaneously across tech and math circles. It began when @tkisrage joked that Tao's earlier dismissal of AI was a 'denial stage,' that he had been 'humbled' by AI capabilities, and would soon reach 'acceptance'—because 'no one was smart enough to humble you, so we built a machine to make sure you got humbled too.'

Confirmed

The mockery focused on Tao alone, with the viral meme 'put the fries in the bag Terence Tao,' used by users such as ArthurMacwaters.
@olivertraldi countered that Tao has been humble his whole life; aVanishingCycle slammed the tired, repetitive nature of such bits.
@panickssery noted in the ensuing arguments that the schadenfreude was aimed mainly at Tao—even though Tao is precisely the mathematician actively promoting OpenAI and other AI tools for mathematical research.
A related post (retweeted by @ctjlewis) argued that Tao does math out of love; if AI replaced mathematicians, Tao would outperform ordinary people in any other white-collar job, so a world where 'Tao bags fries while you keep coding' does not exist.

Why it matters

The spat reveals AI accelerationists' hostility toward intellectual authority: even a top mathematician who openly experiments with AI-assisted proof gets labeled an 'AI denier' for earlier cautious remarks.
Defenders highlighted Tao's humility and constructive attitude, arguing mockers misread his actual embrace of AI.
The episode also prompted a more serious discussion: if AI disrupts the most elite intellectual work, ordinary white-collar jobs fare far worse, with the 'lithium mine' metaphor becoming a focal point of debate.

2026-09-23 ~ 2026-09-23 · 5 related posts

Primary sources

Terence Tao's AI skepticism sparks 'humbling' mockery in AI Twitter drama — akbirthko · 2026-09-23 05:19 (UTC+08:00)
Mockery in AI-math drama targets Terence Tao with 'fries in the bag' meme — panickssery · 2026-09-23 08:21 (UTC+08:00)
Viral take: if AI takes math, Terence Tao outshines you at any white-collar job — ctjlewis · 2026-09-23 13:10 (UTC+08:00)

'Put the fries in the bag, Terence Tao': tech-bro mockery of mathematicians sparks backlash — ctjlewis · 2026-09-23
Math community pushes back as users mock Terence Tao for downplaying AI — littmath · 2026-09-23
[source] Mockery in AI-math drama targets Terence Tao with 'fries in the bag' meme — panickssery · 2026-09-23
[source] Viral take: if AI takes math, Terence Tao outshines you at any white-collar job — ctjlewis · 2026-09-23

1 near-duplicate retellings: akbirthko