Resolution criteria

This market resolves to YES if the Caltech Mathathon, originally scheduled for October 30 – November 1, 2026, is officially cancelled or called off, or if it does not begin its competition phase on or before December 31, 2026.

The market resolves to NO if the Caltech Mathathon (including any redesigned or modified version under the same student organizers) begins its competition phase on or before December 31, 2026.

Sources of Truth:

• Official event website: Caltech Mathathon

• Official communications from the organizers (e.g., via mathathon@caltech.edu)

• Authoritative coverage from reputable tech or academic media outlets (e.g., The Next Web or Business Insider)

Note on Postponements: If the event is postponed to a date after December 31, 2026, or is postponed indefinitely, it will resolve as YES. Changes in format, rules, or sponsorship will not trigger a YES resolution as long as the event itself occurs on or before December 31, 2026.

Background

The Caltech Mathathon is a student-run AI math hackathon designed to have teams of mathematicians use frontier large language models (LLMs) to tackle open research problems. Shortly after its announcement in early September 2026, the event drew significant pushback from the academic community. A coalition of current and former Caltech mathematicians published an open letter signed by over 700 peers demanding the event be called off, arguing it promotes "slop mathematics" and turns academic research into an AI corporate publicity stunt.

Following the backlash, OpenAI withdrew its $1 million sponsorship. The student organizers modified several event rules in response to feedback—such as requiring arXiv preprints for the second round—and initially declined to cancel the event. However, the official applicant portal currently states that organizers are "redesigning Mathathon in response to community feedback, so its date, format, and application process may change," with decisions temporarily on hold.

This description was generated by AI. Review and verify everything here yourself. You can edit, replace, or delete any part of this description, including the resolution criteria. You do not need to trust the AI output.