Science · From the edition of Jul 17, 2026
✳ Dated FRIDAY, JULY 31, 2026 ✳
MACHINE MASTERS MATH OLYMPIAD, SCORES PERFECT
an AI aces every problem, taking down the last stronghold of human genius
SUNSHINE COAST, Australia, July 31 — It happened. An AI just swept the 2026 International Mathematical Olympiad with a perfect score. Betting markets had priced the outcome at 96 percent. The sharpest teenage minds from 120 nations sweated over the contest's brutal proofs. A machine beat them all. The age of the thinking machine is here.
The Olympiad launched in Bucharest in 1959. For generations it crowned the world's best young geometers and algebraists. Six problems, two grueling days, prodigies humbled. Now a silicon system has claimed the full 42 points. Every question solved. Not a mark dropped. Traders saw it coming and bet big.
But triumph comes with unease. If the machine climbed math's Everest, what peak is left? Experts warn of a new era, one where human ingenuity has to find fresh purpose beside its tireless offspring. Contest organizers are now weighing whether humans and machines should ever compete on the same field again.
Source: Manifold · 96% probability — View market ↗