Can AI match the brilliance of the world’s best young minds? Not quite yet — but it’s getting scarily close.
At this year’s International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) in Queensland, Australia, humans still reigned supreme.
Five students scored a perfect 42 out of 42.
But here’s the kicker: AI systems from Google and OpenAI also earned gold-level scores — a historic first.
Google’s advanced Gemini chatbot cracked five out of six problems, racking up 35 points.
“Their solutions were astonishing,” said IMO president Gregor Dolinar. “Clear, precise — and easy to follow.”
That’s high praise coming from a competition that pushes mathematical reasoning to its limits.
Humans Hold The Lead
OpenAI wasn’t far behind. Its new reasoning model also hit the 35-point mark.
Researcher Alexander Wei called it “a longstanding grand challenge in AI” finally achieved.
Still, while the bots impressed, they didn’t beat the best.
About 10% of the human contestants earned golds — but only humans hit that perfect score.
For now, it seems that creativity, intuition, and sheer mathematical flair still give people the edge.
So, are the machines coming for our math trophies? Maybe.
But they’ll have to work a little harder to take the crown from the kids who still rule the chalkboard.
