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ScienceFading · day 7

OpenAI proves 'unique games' conjecture; MIT researchers rush to publish competing result

As OpenAI announced a proof of a major problem in theoretical computer science, a team at MIT scrambled to publish their own milestone result before being overshadowed.

newest coverage 11h agosummary written 5d ago8 pieces13 likes & upvotes NewswiresHacker NewsMastodonGoogle News

What to know

  • OpenAI announced a proof of the unique games conjecture, a major unsolved problem in computational complexity theory, on October 6, along with 376 other mathematical results.
  • An MIT team led by Dor Minzer learned of OpenAI's alleged proof on September 11 and rushed to publish their own milestone result on a related problem before being overshadowed.
  • Minzer's result was widely praised by the research community despite being published in rough-draft form; the race to publish highlighted the competitive pressure AI advances are placing on traditional academic publishing.

Dor Minzer MIT professor, unique games conjecture expertYumou Fei MIT graduate studentShuo Wang MIT graduate studentOpenAI AI companyRyan O'Donnell Theoretical computer scientist, Carnegie Mellon University

OpenAI proves 'unique games' conjecture; MIT researchers rush to publish competing result
quantamagazine.org

How it unfolded 0 developments, newest first · click a bar or a number to jump

Peak 2 pieces in two hours at Oct 7, 10 AM; 8 pieces over 7 days (2 articles · 6 posts) Oct 7, 10 AM — 2 pieces · 1 article · 1 post — Newswires 1, Hacker News 1Oct 7, 12 PM — quietOct 7, 2 PM — quietOct 7, 4 PM — quietOct 7, 6 PM — 1 piece · 1 post — Mastodon 1Oct 7, 8 PM — quietOct 7, 10 PM — quietOct 8, 12 AM — quietOct 8, 2 AM — quietOct 8, 4 AM — 2 pieces · 1 article · 1 post — Mastodon 1, Google News 1Oct 8, 6 AM — quietOct 8, 8 AM — quietOct 8, 10 AM — quietOct 8, 12 PM — quietOct 8, 2 PM — quietOct 8, 4 PM — 1 piece · 1 post — Hacker News 1Oct 8, 6 PM — quietOct 8, 8 PM — quietOct 8, 10 PM — quietOct 9, 12 AM — quietOct 9, 2 AM — quietOct 9, 4 AM — quietOct 9, 6 AM — quietOct 9, 8 AM — quietOct 9, 10 AM — quietOct 9, 12 PM — quietOct 9, 2 PM — quietOct 9, 4 PM — quietOct 9, 6 PM — quietOct 9, 8 PM — quietOct 9, 10 PM — quietOct 10, 12 AM — quietOct 10, 2 AM — quietOct 10, 4 AM — quietOct 10, 6 AM — quietOct 10, 8 AM — quietOct 10, 10 AM — quietOct 10, 12 PM — quietOct 10, 2 PM — quietOct 10, 4 PM — quietOct 10, 6 PM — quietOct 10, 8 PM — quietOct 10, 10 PM — quietOct 11, 12 AM — quietOct 11, 2 AM — quietOct 11, 4 AM — quietOct 11, 6 AM — quietOct 11, 8 AM — quietOct 11, 10 AM — quietOct 11, 12 PM — quietOct 11, 2 PM — quietOct 11, 4 PM — quietOct 11, 6 PM — quietOct 11, 8 PM — quietOct 11, 10 PM — quietOct 12, 12 AM — 1 piece · 1 post — Hacker News 1Oct 12, 2 AM — quietOct 12, 4 AM — quietOct 12, 6 AM — quietOct 12, 8 AM — quietOct 12, 10 AM — quietOct 12, 12 PM — quietOct 12, 2 PM — quietOct 12, 4 PM — quietOct 12, 6 PM — quietOct 12, 8 PM — quietOct 12, 10 PM — quietYesterday, 12 AM — quietYesterday, 2 AM — quietYesterday, 4 AM — quietYesterday, 6 AM — quietYesterday, 8 AM — quietYesterday, 10 AM — quietYesterday, 12 PM — 1 piece · 1 post — Hacker News 1Yesterday, 2 PM — quietYesterday, 4 PM — quietYesterday, 6 PM — quietYesterday, 8 PM — quietYesterday, 10 PM — quiet
Oct 8Oct 9Oct 10Oct 11Oct 12yesterdaynow · 12:14 AM ET
  1. background

    Carnegie Mellon researcher praises Minzer's result — Ryan O'Donnell, a theoretical computer scientist at Carnegie Mellon University, praised Minzer's work, noting his track record and characterizing the result as outstanding.

  2. background

    OpenAI announces proof of unique games conjecture and 376 other results — OpenAI announced a proof of the unique games conjecture, along with 376 other mathematical results across many fields. The announcement vindicated Minzer's decision to publish quickly, as researchers greeted the deluge with a mixture of alarm and curiosity.

  3. background

    Minzer's team rushes to publish milestone result on related problem — Three days after learning of OpenAI's alleged proof, Minzer and his graduate students Yumou Fei and Shuo Wang posted a 95-page paper online proving a milestone result about a closely related question. They prioritized completeness over clarity and included a disclaimer: "The current version of the manuscript is complete mathematically, but it is not in the shape we wished to share in."

  4. background

    Minzer receives warning about OpenAI's alleged unique games proof — On the morning of September 11, Dor Minzer, an MIT professor and expert on the unique games conjecture, received text messages from friends asking if he was close to proving the conjecture. The messages suggested OpenAI had allegedly discovered a proof and might announce it soon.