Mathematicians around the world are very angry with Sam Altman's OpenAI

OpenAI has pulled its support for a Caltech mathematics event after a group of current and former mathematicians criticised the growing use of AI in mathematical research. According to a Business Insider report, the dispute comes as AI companies increasingly use large language models (LLMs) to tackle difficult research problems.

Notably, the ChatGPT maker was one of the companies supporting Caltech's "math hackathon", where participants use AI tools to work on open mathematical problems. OpenAI researcher Dan Roberts said on Thursday (September 10) that the company would no longer sponsor the event.The decision followed an open letter from Caltech mathematicians who warned that the event "is likely to have destructive impacts for the mathematical community."

Why mathematicians are angry with OpenAI and other AI companies

The mathematicians' main concern is not simply the use of AI in mathematics. They are also questioning how AI companies present their claimed breakthroughs and what happens after those claims are made. According to the academics, AI companies can announce that their models have solved difficult theoretical problems, while human mathematicians are then left to check the work, develop proper proofs and determine whether the claims are correct.

They described this practice as "slop mathematics.""After the latest result is dropped, research mathematicians are compelled to step in to properly verify, disseminate, and sometimes discredit entirely the claimed results," the academics said. "This labor goes uncompensated, uncredited, and unacknowledged."The disagreement intensified after OpenAI announced that its AI agents had solved the Navier-Stokes equations, a set of mathematical equations that have been studied for around 90 years and are used to describe how liquids and gases move.The announcement quickly drew criticism from mathematicians.

OpenAI says it wants to work more with mathematicians

Dan Roberts, OpenAI's research lead, addressed the issue on X after the criticism. "We recognize that the rapid progress of AI in mathematics is disruptive," Roberts said. "We're looking to engage with the math community more on the best way to integrate this technology and communicate its impacts."

What is Caltech's math hackathon

The event, described as a "mathathon", is designed to give young mathematicians a chance to use AI tools while working on difficult research questions.

According to the event's application page, its goal is to "responsibly use AI tools to augment human understanding of mathematics."Participants first compete in a round lasting 40 hours. They are given $20,000 in AI tokens to work on an open mathematical problem. Teams with answers considered "promising and well explained" can then move to a second round. Those teams receive six months and additional AI tokens to continue their research.