OpenAI Pulls Out of Caltech Math Hackathon After Mathematicians' Open Letter
ns123abc · x · 2026-09-12
OpenAI has withdrawn from sponsoring Caltech's "math hackathon," an event where participants use LLMs to tackle research-level math problems, following an open letter from current and former Caltech mathematicians.
- The letter warned the event is "likely to have destructive impacts for the mathematical community."
- Critics focused on "slop mathematics": AI companies claiming to solve open theoretical problems while leaving verification, dissemination, and sometimes debunking to working researchers.
- OpenAI research lead Dan Roberts acknowledged AI's rapid progress in math is disruptive and said the company wants to engage the math community on integrating the technology.
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