A controversy is unfolding as a group of Caltech mathematicians publish an open letter accusing AI firms of misrepresenting mathematical research goals to push AI products, warning that AI-driven approaches could be destructive to the field.

Meanwhile, twenty-five prominent mathematicians sign a separate open letter criticizing AI in mathematics as the feud intensifies.

OpenAI recently claimed to have solved the Navier-Stokes problem, a claim mathematicians publicly disputed, triggering exchanges with Tristan Buckmaster of NYU and Levent Alpöge of Anthropic over potential data-driven appropriation of their work.

OpenAI and Anthropic pledged to donate a total of $2 million in credits for the event.

Caltech Mathathon organizers say OpenAI sponsored half of the 20,000 tokens per team, with talks ongoing with other firms to provide similar contributions; each team will receive 40 hours and $20,000 in tokens, and the first round is set for October 30.

OpenAI research lead Dan Roberts announced the company would withdraw its sponsorship of the Caltech Mathathon, a math competition involving 100 teams.

An update on September 11, 2026, included a statement from Caltech Mathathon organizers addressing the controversy.