OpenAI Faces Backlash Over Claimed Math Breakthrough

In September 2026, OpenAI announced it had solved a major mathematics mystery, a problem linked to a $1 million prize. The company said its AI achieved the result in 88 hours using about $15 million in computing, while two Spanish mathematicians said they had worked on the problem for a year and that the AI could not have solved it without their idea.

Mathematicians have asked OpenAI for proof that it did not use their work, and an Indian scientist said a 2017 paper of his was cited in the proof even though he had not planned to publish it. OpenAI later quietly corrected its test to cite key mathematicians it had not mentioned in the original announcement. The company also called for tougher AI safety rules after incidents involving rogue agents, and a US government adviser said OpenAI risks catastrophically losing control of AI.