A student-run artificial intelligence math event at Caltech drew backlash from more than 700 academics, after which OpenAI withdrew its $1 million sponsorship following critics' warnings about "AI slop." The undergraduate organizers resisted calls to cancel the event, saying it has never been more important to determine how humans and AI can work together in mathematics. Caiman Moreno-Earle, a 19-year-old math major at Caltech, said watching AI companies rapidly solve theorems that had stumped his professors for years felt demoralizing, prompting him to organize a multi-day "mathathon" for students to use AI on hard theoretical problems. The organizers said young mathematicians cannot afford to wait for AI rules to emerge.
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