(Photo – caltech.edu)
OpenAI has withdrawn its financial support for Caltech’s student-organized Mathathon, an AI-focused mathematics competition scheduled to begin on October 30, 2026. The decision followed criticism from mathematicians and researchers, including an open letter signed by 771 current and former Caltech mathematicians.
By News Desk
The event is still expected to proceed. Organizers said they are speaking with other companies to replace the lost funding. Anthropic remains a sponsor, and its support for the competition is unchanged.
The controversy centers on the competition’s structure. Teams were given 40 hours and $20,000 worth of AI tokens to work on open mathematical problems, followed by a six-month round to develop promising submissions. Critics argued that the format could produce what they described as “slop mathematics”—AI-generated claims that others would later have to verify and correct.
OpenAI research lead Dan Roberts said on X that the company recognized the disruptive pace of AI’s progress in mathematics and wanted to engage more constructively with the mathematical community.
OpenAI’s withdrawal came as another letter, signed by 25 Fields Medalists, criticized the growing mass production of automated mathematical claims and benchmarks.
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