Mathematicians' group urges colleagues to stop working with OpenAI after its 722 paper release
The Association for Human Mathematics, on OpenAI's 722-paper release: "Mathematicians did not ask for this work to be done." It also urged mathematicians "to discontinue their work with OpenAI." Fields Medalist Terence Tao reposted the statement on his blog as a guest post, and X has since run with it as Tao's own words. OpenAI has also withdrawn 3 of the papers, and 14 more have been revised since the release. OpenAI's README on the drop did say that "some of the unformalized results could have issues. We will endeavor to fix any such issues quickly."
Context
An organized pushback from mathematicians could limit the expert collaboration AI labs rely on to check and present math results.
On October 6, OpenAI released a repository of 722 manuscripts it says contain solutions to a number of high profile math problems. The Association for Human Mathematics answered with a statement saying "Mathematicians did not ask for this work to be done" and urging mathematicians to discontinue their work with OpenAI. Terence Tao reposted the statement on his blog as a guest post, and many posts on X then quoted the line as Tao's own words.
Deep dive
The statement is signed by the Association for Human Mathematics Communications Working Group. It says the Advisory Group on Mathematics and Artificial Intelligence, from which OpenAI has claimed to draw legitimacy, opened its own advisory statement by saying frontier AI companies should not test advanced math problems on internal models. By ignoring that, the group says, OpenAI showed total disregard for the norms of scientific research.
It rejects OpenAI's claim that the release advances mathematics and asks the public to view this publication model with skepticism. "Releasing over 700 files at once is not a demonstration of scholarship, but a demonstration of power," it says, before urging mathematicians to return to a vision of science centered on human understanding.
The reaction on X split sharply. Some popular accounts attributed the quote to Tao and criticized him for it. The Rundown AI reported that OpenAI has withdrawn 3 of the papers and revised 14 more since the release; that figure has not been independently confirmed. The Rundown AI also quoted OpenAI's notes on the release, which said some unformalized results could have issues and that OpenAI would try to fix them quickly.
The dispute follows earlier warnings from mathematicians, including the Leiden Declaration on AI and Mathematics in June and a September declaration titled A Severe Misalignment of AI in Mathematics, initiated by 25 Fields medalists.
What to expect next
Watch for an official OpenAI response to the call to stop collaborating, and for whether prominent mathematicians publicly sign on to the statement or reject it.
Expert review of the 722 manuscripts will matter more than the argument on X. Further withdrawals or corrections, and reviews like the Lean translation paper published this week, will show how much of the release holds up. Tao's own comments, beyond hosting the guest post, are also an open question.