OpenAI is stepping back from an event it once helped fund, and mathematicians aren’t shedding any tears over it.
OpenAI research lead Dan Roberts announced on Thursday via social media that the company is withdrawing its sponsorship of the Caltech Mathathon. The competition brings together 100 teams of mathematicians who will tackle how AI tools can responsibly support mathematical research.
Mathematicians Accuse AI Firms of Misconduct
The move follows an open letter published this week by current and former Caltech mathematicians. According to Business Insider’s reporting on the letter, the group accused AI companies of spreading misleading narratives about mathematical research. They argued this was done specifically to promote AI products. The letter went further, arguing that AI-generated ‘slop mathematics’ amounts to research misconduct. In their view, this practice draws on the work of human mathematicians to produce answers without genuinely advancing understanding. The signatories specifically warned that the Mathathon could cause lasting harm to the mathematical community.
A Disputed Breakthrough Adds Fuel to the Fire
The timing wasn’t coincidental. The backlash arrived the same week OpenAI claimed to have cracked the Navier-Stokes Problem, a long-unsolved question in fluid dynamics. Mathematicians pushed back on that claim almost immediately. The announcement also sparked a public disagreement involving NYU’s Tristan Buckmaster and Anthropic’s Levent Alpöge. The two researchers raised the possibility that OpenAI had learned of their own progress toward a solution and drawn on it through training data.
By the end of the week, 25 additional mathematicians had signed a separate open letter criticizing AI’s role in the field, and outside coverage described the dispute as continuing to intensify.
OpenAI Frames the Conflict as Growing Pains
In his announcement, Roberts described the situation in far softer terms than his critics, saying the company recognizes that AI’s rapid progress in mathematics is “disruptive.” It’s a notably gentler word choice than the “destructive” label mathematicians have used.
What This Means for the Mathathon
Under the competition’s original structure, each of the 100 teams was set to receive 40 hours of work time and $20,000 in computing credits, with the first round scheduled to begin October 30th. OpenAI and Anthropic had jointly pledged $2 million in credits to support the event.
A Mathathon spokesperson told Gizmodo that OpenAI’s contribution covered half of the $20,000 allotted per team, and that organizers are now negotiating with other companies willing to match that level of support. The spokesperson added that they don’t expect the withdrawal to meaningfully disrupt the competition.
Update: This article was updated at 9:11 p.m. ET on Sept. 11, 2026, to include a statement from Caltech Mathathon organizers.
