OpenAI’s IMO Team on Why Models Are Finally Solving Elite-Level Math

In just two months, a scrappy three-person team at OpenAI sprinted to fulfill what the entire AI field has been chasing for years—gold-level performance on the International Mathematical Olympiad problems. Alex Wei, Sheryl Hsu and Noam Brown discuss their unique approach using general-purpose reinforcement learning techniques on hard-to-verify tasks rather than formal verification tools. The model showed surprising self-awareness by admitting it couldn’t solve problem six, and revealed the humbling gap between solving competition problems and genuine mathematical research breakthroughs.

Hosted by Sonya Huang, Sequoia Capital

00:00 Introduction
01:56 The Journey to IMO Gold
03:02 Challenges and Strategies
04:46 Early Signs of Success
08:49 IMO Competition
11:30 Reflections and Insights
15:18 Scaling and Future Prospects
16:50 General Purpose Techniques and Applications
27:59 Future Plans

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