The Curious Case of OpenAI’s ‘Embarrassing’ Math: A Closer Look at the Flaws and Fixes

OpenAI’s recent claims about its GPT-5 model’s mathematical capabilities have stirred controversy and backlash within the AI community. Meta’s Chief AI Scientist Yann LeCun characterized the situation as being "hoisted by their own GPTards," following an announcement where OpenAI’s VP Kevin Weil proclaimed that GPT-5 had solved ten previously unsolved Erdős problems and made progress on eleven others.

These Erdős problems are notable mathematical conjectures established by mathematician Paul Erdős. However, mathematician Thomas Bloom, who runs the Erdos Problems website, was quick to clarify that Weil’s assertion was a “dramatic misrepresentation.” Bloom explained that while the problems were indeed listed as “open” on his site, it merely indicated his personal unawareness of any solution papers, not that they had been solved.

In a further development, Sebastien Bubeck, another OpenAI researcher involved in emphasizing GPT-5’s achievements, later acknowledged that the model did not solve new problems but rather referenced existing literature on them. Despite this clarification, he asserted that this was still a commendable achievement, given the challenges associated with navigating extensive academic literature.

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