February 7, 2026

Encrypted answers, exposed nerves

First Proof

10 locked math riddles challenge AI — but the clock (and trust) is ticking

TLDR: A new test locks answers to ten tough math questions to see if AI can really prove things, then reveals them later. Commenters are split: some slam the short deadline and fear human “help” will fake AI wins, while others just want clear rules and proof this is a fair fight.

Ten research-level math questions just dropped like a mystery box, and their answers are encrypted—a time‑capsule test to see if today’s chatbots can do real math research. Cool idea, right? The crowd is… divided. One helpful soul tossed the About page into the chat, but the vibe quickly swerved from curious to chaotic.

The loudest gripe: the deadline is too tight. With answers sealed “for a short time,” a Feb 13 finish line has folks yelling “speedrun,” not science. Happa called it “pretty close,” and others piled on, saying serious math needs weeks, not days. Then came the meme of the day: “goalpost moving olympics.” Cynics are already betting that no matter what happens, someone will declare victory and rewrite the rules.

And the biggest drama: trust. One commenter asked the question everyone’s thinking—what’s stopping big labs from hiring mathematicians and pretending the bot did it? Without clear, public rules, skeptics smell an AI victory lap in the making. Meanwhile, newcomers wonder if these are human‑unsolved problems (short answer: they’re serious research questions, but not necessarily unsolved by everyone). In short: a flashy math duel with encrypted answers, a ticking clock, and a comments section doing what it does best—demand receipts and drop spicy one‑liners.

Key Points

  • Ten research-level mathematics questions have been released to test current AI systems’ ability to answer correctly.
  • The problems originated organically from the authors’ ongoing research work.
  • These questions had not been publicly shared before this release.
  • The authors already know the correct answers.
  • The answers will remain encrypted for a short time to maintain the assessment’s integrity.

Hottest takes

"goalpost moving olympics" — baal80spam
"February 13th is a pretty close deadline" — happa
"What prevents [them] from hiring mathematicians and passing it off as LLM?" — blenderob
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