Transparency in AI Research: Discussion on Epoch AI and OpenAI Funding
Eulerpool Research Systems •Jan 19, 2025
Takeaways NEW
- Epoch AI faces criticism over lack of transparency regarding financial support from OpenAI.
- Reactions on social media highlight the importance of transparency for the objectivity of benchmarks.
An organization dedicated to developing mathematical benchmarks for artificial intelligence (AI) is facing allegations of not disclosing that it received financial support from OpenAI. It was only recently revealed that OpenAI supported the development of FrontierMath, a test with expert problems to evaluate an AI's mathematical abilities. This test was used by OpenAI to demonstrate its new flagship model.
Epoch AI, a non-profit organization primarily funded by Open Philanthropy, stated on December 20 that OpenAI had been involved in creating FrontierMath. However, according to a post on the LessWrong forum, a majority of the contributors were unaware of OpenAI's involvement. A user appearing as "Meemi" criticized the lack of transparency that prevailed at the beginning of the project.
Reactions on social media suggest that the secrecy could undermine the reputation of FrontierMath as an objective criterion. Despite the ambiguities, Tamay Besiroglu, deputy director of Epoch AI and co-founder of the organization, emphasized that the integrity of FrontierMath remained intact. He admitted, however, that it was a mistake not to be transparent earlier.
An additional safeguard is provided by a separate, unpublished set of tasks that serves to independently verify the results. Nevertheless, there are uncertainties within the organization. Ellot Glazer, lead mathematician at Epoch AI, stated that an independent verification of OpenAI's results has not yet been achieved.
The debate about Epoch AI once again highlights the challenges in creating empirical benchmarks to evaluate AI systems and the necessity of avoiding conflicts of interest during the development of benchmarks.
Eulerpool Markets
Finance Markets
New ReleaseEnterprise Grade
Institutional
Financial Data
Access comprehensive financial data with unmatched coverage and precision. Trusted by the world's leading financial institutions.
- 10M+ securities worldwide
- 100K+ daily updates
- 50-year historical data
- Comprehensive ESG metrics

Save up to 68%
vs. legacy vendors