OpenAI withdraws sponsorship from Caltech math hackathon amid mathematician concerns
OpenAI said it will no longer sponsor Caltech's AI-focused math hackathon after a letter from mathematicians warned the event could harm the research community.
OpenAI announced on Thursday that it is ending its sponsorship of Caltech's "math hackathon," an event that invites participants to apply large language models to open mathematical problems. The decision follows an open letter from current and former Caltech mathematicians warning that the competition, which is backed by several AI firms, could have destructive effects on the mathematical community.
"We recognize that the rapid progress of AI in mathematics is disruptive," OpenAI research lead Dan Roberts wrote on X. "We're looking to engage with the math community more on the best way to integrate this technology and communicate its impacts."
The mathematicians argue that AI companies often claim breakthroughs on theoretical problems without providing verifiable proofs, leaving researchers to validate, disseminate, or refute the results without compensation or acknowledgment. They also expressed concern that the hackathon could serve as promotional exposure for AI firms, allowing them to claim credit for work done by undergraduate participants.
The controversy intensified after OpenAI announced that its agents had solved the Navier-Stokes equations, a long-standing fluid dynamics problem. NYU mathematician Tristan Buckmaster suggested that OpenAI might have used his prior chatbot interactions in developing the solution, and OpenAI said it could not rule out that anonymized usage data had contributed to model improvements.
Anthropic, another sponsor, did not respond to requests for comment, and OpenAI declined further comment. Event organizers, many of whom are undergraduates, said the competition is intended to let young mathematicians responsibly use AI tools to enhance understanding of mathematics. They added that the event aims to keep students engaged with the discipline and expressed gratitude for the feedback received.
The hackathon is structured in two phases: an initial round giving teams 40 hours and $20,000 in AI tokens to tackle an open problem, followed by a second round where selected teams receive six months and additional tokens to develop promising solutions.