OpenAI's millennium proof dispute raises the question of whether researchers can trust AI labs
Mathematician Tristan Buckmaster accused OpenAI of pressuring him and possibly training on his drafts amid OpenAI's race to claim a Navier-Stokes millennium proof.
OpenAI published a blog post and Sam Altman defended the team behind its AI-generated proof of the Navier-Stokes Millennium Problem after mathematician Tristan Buckmaster accused the company of academic misconduct. Buckmaster and co-author Levent Alpöge, who works at Anthropic, allege OpenAI pressured Buckmaster, sidelined Alpöge, and may have trained on drafts they entered into OpenAI's systems. OpenAI acknowledges it cannot rule out that de-identified data from their product usage helped improve its models. Mathematician Terence Tao warned the episode could discourage researchers from sharing work, reversing centuries of open science.