The Brief

After eight days of being closed, traffic is once again flowing in both directions of the 10 Freeway through downtown Los Angeles.

The 10 Freeway from Alameda Street to the East L.A. interchange reopened Sunday evening, far ahead of schedule. Last week, officials announced that repairs could take up to five weeks.

At a news conference Sunday, Mayor Karen Bass, Gov. Gavin Newsom, Vice-President Kamala Harris and Senator Alex Padilla offered thanks for a speedy reopening of a key artery which typically handles 300,000 vehicles a day.

Some surface street and on-ramp closures were expected to linger as longer term repairs remained ongoing.

The 10 Freeway opened lanes to vehicles Sunday night ahead of a Monday morning commute.

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Yusra Farzan

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LAist

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Vice President Kamala Harris, right, walks on the 10 Freeway Sunday morning with Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass before a news conference announcing the freeway was just hours away from opening.

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Alex Gallardo

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Local businesses that have had to deal with the closure are welcoming its reopening.

Edgar Jimenez’s Mexican food truck, Quesadillas Ja Ja Ja on 8th and Alameda streets, is close to where the fire erupted and said his otherwise regular customers were reluctant to stand in line or brave the traffic, which also affected his operations.

“Even if it's around the corner it will take half an hour to get back to where I am,” he said. “It impacted me, like, really bad.”

The Shell gas station on Alameda and 14th streets that provides a vantage point to the repair work saw an 80% drop in gasoline sales last week, said morning manager Alexander Shenouda.

“We just relied on the construction workers coming to our market,” he said.

A resource center for businesses also opened Monday on Central Avenue, where people can learn about city and county programs, including grants, that can help offset some of the financial effects of the closure.

According to the Downtown Industrial Business Improvement District, some businesses lost 40% to 50% of their revenue during the shut down.

How we got here

After initial fears that the bridge near downtown L.A. would need to be demolished and rebuilt — a process which would have taken months — structural testing instead pointed toward repairs. Still, that work was thought would take three to five weeks.

Instead, Sunday morning, authorities said the freeway would open within hours, in time for the Monday morning commute.

In all, that means the freeway was back in operation eight days after a devastating fire began last Saturday, burning through pallets, vehicles and other flammable material store under the roadway.

"The good news is there was more good news," said Gov. Gavin Newsom at an early morning news conference.

Vice President Kamala Harris joined the group making the announcement. Harris said she was "acutely aware" of how serious the shutdown of the 10 Freeway was for the city and region.

"The work that happened here was extraordinary," she said praising the union contractors who worked around the clock. "Tomorrow the commute is back on."

Where things stand

• The Alameda Street off-ramp, as well as Lawrence Street between 10th Street and 14th Street, will still be closed.
  
• Newsom said on Sunday that permanent repairs will continue, during episodic closures that will take place likely at night.
  
• Bass said Metro ridership jumped 10% during the closure.
  
• Authorities are seeking a person of interest in connection to the arson investigation.
  

• Newsom said Thursday that the fire damaged 10 Freeway was “in better shape than anticipated” and will open no later than Nov. 21, far sooner than initially expected and before the busy Thanksgiving holiday.

  “What a gift for Los Angeles to have right before a holiday to know that your commute will be better," said Bass, who joined Newsom at the burn site to make the announcement.
  

• On Thursday, the L.A. Department of Transportation added an additional left turn lane in each direction along the Alameda corridor to improve traffic flow. 
  
• Additional white-glove traffic officers continue to be stationed throughout the closure area. And With rain expected through the end of the week, Bass directed the Department of Transportation to increase the amount of white-glove traffic officers in the downtown area so commuters can get through intersections faster.
  
• The Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration made $3 million of emergency relief funding immediately available to Caltrans on Wednesday to help repair the freeway. The “quick release” federal funding will go towards traffic control, removing hazardous waste, and temporary shoring of the damaged structure.
  
• On Wednesday, Metro added additional buses to Line 66, which runs along Olympic Boulevard, and Line 251 along Soto Street. These lines saw the most delays Tuesday.

• LAFD is now inspecting all state property under freeways for fire hazard material to make sure they’re safe and that the 10 Freeway “tragedy will not be repeated,” Bass said.
  
• Newsom also said crew would install cameras so that the public can monitor the project's progress, on fixthe10.ca.gov (which currently appears to have photos and a highlight-reel video of repairs.)

The following reporting preceded the reopening.

Why drivers were asked to stay off surface streets

Bass and other top officials had pleaded with drivers to stay off surface streets if they’re trying to get around the 10 Freeway closure.

After taking a helicopter ride over the damaged freeway, Bass said all the surface streets around downtown look like parking lots as people try to find their own detours. Officials are still encouraging commuters to stay on the freeways, or take public transit whenever possible.

Los Angeles Fire Chief Kristin Crowley added that fire trucks and ambulances have been having trouble getting through the congestion.

“Every second counts when it comes to our emergency responders,” she said. “So please keep that in mind when you are trying to make that decision of where you're going to go.”

What we know so far

• We learned Monday that the fire was likely started by arson. Newsom said CalFire — which finished its investigation 12 hours early — made a preliminary determination that there was malice intent. “That it was arson, and that it was done and set intentionally," Newsom said. "That determination of who is responsible is an investigation that is ongoing.”
  

• While the fire remains under investigation, Mayor Bass told LAist 89.3’s AirTalk earlier this week that speculation on social media and elsewhere is not helpful.

  "There's a lot of accusations against the homeless people that were in the area,” she said. “There is no reason, at this point in time, to associate the encampment with the fire that took place there.”
  

• The company that leased the space under the freeway from CalTrans, Apex Development Inc., is facing lawsuits for subleasing the site to at least five other tenants without authorization, according to Newsom. Officials are now checking to see if the Calabasas-based company is out of compliance with the other leases it holds in the area.

  "So to say the whole thing is a mess is an understatement," Bass said Tuesday, "but this company is going to have its date in court at the beginning of the year."
  

• As for why flammable material was stored under a major freeway in the first place, Bass said: "It's not just flammable materials, it's materials, period and it's also oversight and accountability and all of that I think is going to come the question now because — just in our city alone — you were talking about miles and miles of property underneath the freeways that the state leases out.

  "And so all of that needs to be scrutinized and the governor has assured us that it will be, I mean, especially pallet storage of all things, given the number of pallet fires we have in pallet yards each year in Southern California."
  

The backstory

An aerial view of cleanup crews working beneath the closed 10 Freeway Monday.

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Mario Tama

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Getty Images

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The massive fire that shut down both directions of the 10 Freeway between the East L.A. connector and Alameda Street was sparked over the weekend.

Los Angeles city leaders immediately warned of major traffic congestion after "extensive damage" to the bridge near downtown. Before this shutdown, the key regional connector handled about 300,000 vehicles a day — a number that underscores the dramatic effect of the closure.

Crews have been shoring the bridge — adding in temporary supports — and determined by Tuesday that the bridge could be repaired, rather than demolished and rebuilt. That's a major relief to authorities and the commuting public, with more relief coming Thursday when the reopening timeline was greatly accelerated.

Initial timeline on reopening was 3 to 5 weeks

Authorities say work will continue 24/7 until repairs allow the reopening of the stretch of the 10 Freeway that typically handles 300,000 vehicles a day.

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Mario Tama

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Getty Images

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On Sunday, Bass called for patience from Los Angeles drivers — a call she made again Monday and Tuesday. The mayor invoked the Northridge earthquake in 1994 in terms of the severity and consequences of Saturday's damage.

"For those of you that remember the 1994 Northridge earthquake, Caltrans worked around the clock to complete emergency repairs to the freeways," said Bass. "And this structural damage calls for the same level of urgency and effort."

"Unfortunately, there's no reason to think that this is going to be over in a couple of days," she said.

Newsom said Tuesday that with 24/7 work on repairs, the timeline to reopening would be three to five weeks. Officials were greatly relieved that it wasn't longer — and even more pleased when word came that the major freeway would be opened before the Thanksgiving holiday.

When the 10 Freeway was damaged in the Northridge earthquake, a private construction firm — operating with generous incentives in place — was able to rebuild two bridges in just over two months — 74 days earlier than projected.

Newsom, who declared a state of emergency on Saturday to help with cleanup and repairs, had said Sunday that incentives could come into play.

“The state is mobilizing resources and taking steps to ensure any necessary repairs are completed as soon as possible to minimize the impact on those traveling in and around Los Angeles,” Newsom said.

"We are approaching this issue with absolute urgency," Bass said.

How Caltrans assessed damage

This photo provided by the California Department of Transportation shows an early morning fire along Interstate 10 near downtown Los Angeles, Saturday, Nov. 11, 2023.

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Richard Vogel

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Caltrans District 7 via AP

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Damage under the I-10 overpass after a huge fire on Saturday morning in downtown.

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Courtesy Caltrans

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An emergency contract to begin restoration of the structure has been secured by Caltrans, according to Toks Omishakin, California's secretary of transportation.

What we know about the assessment so far:

• Crews took hazardous material samples for lab analysis and then removed debris from under the overpass.
• At that point, structural engineers from the department were able perform a thorough assessment.

"I want to emphasize that our efforts on this are going to have to be 24/7 to get this roadway back open. But I'm not going to understate the challenge here. It is significant," Omishakin said.

About the fire

The fire started at a pallet yard just north of the 10 Freeway near the intersection of East 14th Street and South Alameda Street at around 12:22 a.m. Saturday, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department. The blaze quickly spread to a second pallet yard, affecting nearly eight acres of the area at one point.

More than 164 firefighters fought the blaze, which was largely contained within three hours. But some hotspots remained in hard-to-reach areas underneath the freeway and robotic equipment was brought in. The fire was fully knocked down later Sunday.

On Monday, officials provided more detail about the damaged infrastructure: About 450 feet of the freeway was affected by the fire, said John Yang, deputy district director for construction for Caltrans District 7. He said that includes more than 90 concrete support columns, each 3 feet in diameter and nearly 16 feet tall.

“We’re inspecting every aspect of it,” he said.

Omishakin said inspectors had been able to take concrete and rebar samples from the underside of the bridge and columns, which they then analyzed.

“Once we analyze these samples, we will get a clearer idea of our repair strategy,” he said.

There were no reported injuries to firefighters — or to others. The cause of the fire is under active investigation.

Officials at Sunday's news conference described treacherous conditions that made getting the fire under control a challenge. At one point, after electrical lines were knocked down by the fire, authorities at the scene were concerned that the water being used to knock down flames could be electrified. That forced them to pull firefighters back and turn to heavy equipment.

Newsom said that the state has begun litigation with the lessee of the pallet yard where the fire started.

"In fact, our inspectors have been out there on a consistent basis with citations," Newsom said at the press conference. "Their lease has expired, they're in arrears, we believe they've been subleasing the space, and we actually have a court date in the early part of the new calendar year."

Newsom said that he could not provide further details on any violations the lessees of the lot may have incurred, but that more updates would be forthcoming.

How to commute

Traffic backed up along a closed Interstate 10 after a fire that severely damaged the freeway in downtown Los Angeles.

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California Highway Patrol warns that traffic diverted from the 10 Freeway closure will impact the 5 Freeway, the 60, and the 101.

Drivers

The Los Angeles Department of Transportation said it is working to establish dedicated detours on surface streets.

"If you are driving on the freeway through downtown, we ask that you do not exit the freeway onto surface streets to bypass the affected area," said Laura Rubio-Cornejo, general manager of LADOT, adding that drivers should stay on the freeway and transfer to the 5, 110, or the 101.

The city has more information on alternate routes here.

Public transportation

The LADOT announced Tuesday that commuter express buses are now free. Commuter express buses connect areas like Northeast Valley, Thousand Oaks, the South Bay and Long Beach with downtown Los Angeles. DASH buses that provide short local trips continue to be free. Riders do not need a tap card.

Metro CEO Stephanie Wiggins said public transit users can take the E line from Santa Monica through downtown Los Angeles to the San Gabriel Valley. The J line parallels a portion of the 110 Freeway completely avoiding the closure area. Another option is the A line from Long Beach all the way to downtown Los Angeles.

Metrolink, Wiggins said, is increasing service from Covina all the way to downtown.
 
“There will now be 30-minute service all day, additional trips, six round trips in total that Metrolink has added starting this morning to give people more choices to ride,” she said.

Remote work

Transportation and city officials also asked anyone who works in downtown L.A. to work from home if at all possible — at least for now.

City officials are also hoping businesses in downtown L.A. will lean into work from home policies for the time being to help alleviate traffic.

“I know we've spent this time trying to encourage people to come back downtown, back into their offices,” Bass said at a news conference. “But while we are going through this crisis, we would like for employers who can have their staff work remotely to do so.”

Schools impact

All LAUSD schools were open Monday, but Superintendent Alberto Carvalho said parents and employees should expect delays. Carvalho said in a statement that families who have questions about district transportation should call (800) 522-8737 (1-800-LA-BUSES).

The district said the following schools may be “significantly impacted” by the closure:

• Para Los Niños Elementary
• 9th Street/Para Los Niños Middle
• Inner City Arts
• St. Turibius Catholic
• Metropolitan High  
• 20th Street Elementary
• 28th Street Elementary

Carvalho said Monday that about 42 bus routes felt the impact, out of 1,300; the average delay was anywhere between 10 to 15 minutes. The delays affected 13 schools.

St. Turibius Catholic School is blocks away from the now-closed section of the 10 Freeway. Principal Audrey Blanchette said her commute from Montebello tripled from 15 to 45 minutes.

“There's just a lot of big rigs on the regular streets that we usually see on the freeway,” Blanchette said. She got off the 60 at Whittier Boulevard and crossed the 6th Street Bridge to get to Central Avenue.

Blanchette said most of the school’s nearly 100 students live nearby and walk or take public transportation. Most of her staff and students made it to school on time Monday, but she’s bracing herself and staff to expect delays for weeks to come.

How we're reporting on this

Reporter Yusra Farzan is reporting from Union Station on commuter experiences. Susanne Whatley, who hosts Morning Edition for LAist 89.3, interviewed Mayor Karen Bass Monday morning and Karina Gacad is our AM Editor. Our AirTalk show has a number of experts on Monday morning's show that will be added as that information becomes available. Over the weekend, Associate Producer Kevin Tidmarsh and Weekend Host Julia Paskin anchored coverage with contributions from Weekend Editor Fiona Ng, PM Editor Tiffany Ujiiye Reporter Makenna Sieverston and Nick Roman, who hosted special coverage Sunday afternoon. Additional reporting Monday by Mariana Dale and Frank Stoltze. Additional editing by Ross Brenneman, Redmond Carolipio, Megan Garvey, Jason Wells and Tony Marcano.

This is a developing story. We fact check everything and rely only on information from credible sources (think fire, police, government officials and reporters on the ground). Sometimes, however, we make mistakes and/or initial reports turn out to be wrong. In all cases, we strive to bring you the most accurate information in real time and will update this story as new information becomes available.

What questions we asked

• What is the timeline for rebuilding?
• Can the freeway segment be repaired or do we need to demolish and start over?
• How does this compare to the damage and rebuilding efforts following the 1994 Northridge earthquake?
• What are the environmental impacts of the smoke and debris?

Your questions or ideas

This story first appeared on The LA Local.

Inglewood is staring down the barrel of a $30.8 million budget deficit next year, the city’s largest in at least two decades, but officials said locals don’t need to be worried. 

Inglewood’s budget ballooned after SoFi Stadium opened in 2020. City officials roughly doubled their spending from the general fund — the pot of money that pays for basic services from police to parks. 

Revenue also boomed in the first few years after the stadium’s opening, but since then hasn’t quite kept up with what’s been spent. 

City officials downplayed the projected deficit last week, saying in reports and presentations that reserves of more than $150 million will cover the gap this year and that they expect increased tax and other revenues to help take care of the problem in the future.  Mayor James Butts said locals have no reason to worry, and that the city’s reserves have enabled officials to be ambitious in their planning. 

Whether they have to dip into those savings at all depends on how locals vote for a ballot measure on Nov. 3. Officials predict Measure AT could wipe out the deficit entirely by bringing in as much as $45 million to $50 million extra in taxes on tickets to major events.

But_, if Inglewood continues to spend more than it takes in over the coming years and pulls too much out of its reserves, city officials could be pushed to lay off staff and cut funding for services, as they did during a fiscal crisis 15 years ago.

The City Council approved the budget proposal in a 4-0 vote at its Tuesday meeting. Councilmember Eloy Morales Jr. was absent.

Here’s a breakdown of Inglewood’s budget

Inglewood’s annual general fund revenue has grown by about $100 million over the last 10 years, driven in large part by increased property taxes and admissions tax.

But that growth has plateaued over the last five years, while expenditures continued to grow. The city plans to spend $279 million out of its general fund this year, more than double its annual spending prior to 2020.

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The city’s total budget is $675 million. It includes the general fund as well as special funds that pay for things like major construction projects and affordable housing.

Police take the largest bite out of Inglewood’s general fund, followed by the public works and parks departments.

Outside the general fund, the city has also budgeted $239 million for capital projects.

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Some of Inglewood’s largest sources of general fund revenue are property tax, sales tax and admissions tax. 

Property tax revenue has grown by leaps and bounds over the last five years, according to budget documents, but admissions tax and sales tax haven’t matched the growth.

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The LA Local

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Officials hope city reserves and a ballot measure will fill the deficit

Inglewood has had budget issues before. The deficit approached $18 million in 2010, just before Mayor James Butts was elected, while reserves fell to around $11 million.

This time around, officials say Inglewood has over $150 million in reserves. 

Butts said those reserves have allowed the city to take an aggressive approach to improving streets, traffic lights and other city infrastructure.

“We put the money there because we want the city to be rehabilitated,” Butts said.

Pulling from reserves, though, isn’t something a city can do indefinitely. City Manager Louis Atwell wrote in a budget report that staff expect tax revenue to keep increasing and new developments to give the city an additional boost. With staff keeping an eye on operating costs, Atwell wrote, those revenues would narrow the city’s budget gap down the line. 

This year’s election could also come into play. The two city ballot measures voters will see — AT and BB — are the product of a larger battle between the city and its stadiums over billboard advertisements and the development deal that brought SoFi Stadium to Inglewood.

Either measure could have a substantial effect on the city’s books. 

Inglewood currently pulls in a 10% tax on SoFi Stadium tickets, but with an annual ceiling on how much the city can get. Measure AT, backed by billboard company WOW Media, would remove the cap and add a new 2.5% tax for the Intuit Dome.

Officials estimated it would bring in between $45 million and $50 million extra annually, more than enough to cover the city’s current deficit. Atwell cautioned, though, that the figures aren’t guaranteed and could depend on economic conditions, the timing of the measure’s roll-out and other factors. 

On the flip side, officials said Measure BB could curtail billboard fees and ratchet the deficit up to almost $39 million. 

The initiative would ban most commercial advertising on the large video billboards that have cropped up along the city’s main roads. Measure BB would cut off a revenue stream that, according to past budget documents, has brought the city between $3 million and $7.5 million. 

City officials itemized how much Inglewood made from billboards in each of the last 10 years, but did not do so in this year’s budget. 

The ballot measures are just a few items on a packed Inglewood ballot that includes elections for mayor, two city council members and three Board of Education trustees. 

International politics moved front and center in the Los Angeles mayor’s race Tuesday night, with the candidates offering differing views on how to describe what’s happening in Gaza.

Incumbent Mayor Karen Bass and challenger City Councilmember Nithya Raman answered questions separately at a forum sponsored by the Jewish Federation of Los Angeles at the Skirball Cultural Center in the Sepulveda Pass. The candidates were interviewed back-to-back on stage by moderator Alex Cohen.

The forum was designed to address the concerns of Jewish Angelenos.

Raman was asked about her use of the term “genocide” and whether it is appropriate to describe Israel’s attacks on Gaza.

L.A. City Councilmember Nithya Raman, right, on stage with moderator Alex Cohen at the Skirball Cultural Center during a mayoral forum on Tuesday, September 29, 2026.

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Jeff Rowe

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“I used it because other experts have used it to describe what’s happening,” she said. “And I used it because I felt compelled to speak out about issues that we saw, the images that we saw, the targeting of hospitals, the deaths of children.”

Bass had a different response from her opponent when asked whether she believes the term applies in Gaza.

“When I think of foreign affairs, especially conflicts, my focus is on how they impact the city of L.A. — no, I don’t,” Bass responded.

L.A. Mayor Karen Bass answers questions at a mayoral candidates forum held at the Skirball Cultural Center.

The Gaza Health Ministry estimates 74,000 Palestinians have died in the war, including many children and noncombatants.

The war started on October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants launched a surprise attack on Israel, killing around 1,200 people and kidnapping 251.

Genocide is an international crime defined by the United Nations as any act committed with the specific intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group.

The U.S. government and Israel vehemently deny genocide is going on in Gaza. Many other countries and human rights organizations disagree, saying it is genocide.

Candidates differ on Israel boycott

The two also split on the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement against Israel.

Raman called it “a legitimate form of peaceful protest” against Israel over its treatment of the Palestinians, prompting loud boos from some in the crowd.

“I support people’s right to protest,” she said. “And I will fight for that right even when I don’t agree with protesters, or when I agree with protesters.”

Raman is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, which supports the boycott and divestment of Israel.

Bass said she would oppose any effort to enact sanctions against Israel.

Cohen also asked Raman about her appearance with Hasan Piker, a left-wing Twitch streamer and outspoken critic of Israel.

Raman said she disagreed with some of Piker’s views, saying it’s important for elected officials “to go speak to them even when you disagree.”

Raman said she has been an outspoken critic of antisemitism and was the first L.A. elected official to denounce the 2023 attack on Israel.

National polls on Gaza

The divergence in views between Bass and Raman represents a larger shift in the Democratic Party over Israel.

A new AP-NORC poll found erosion of support for the longtime U.S. ally, with rising opposition from Democrats.

About one-third of U.S. adults — including roughly half of Democrats — believe that Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians during the war in Gaza, according to The Associated Press. About 2 in 10 Americans say Israel has not, and the rest, about half, don’t know enough to say.

A similar share, 30%, of Jewish adults say Israel has committed genocide, although about half, 49%, say it has not.

“40 hours, $2M+ AI credits, solve an open problem.”

So read the splashy announcement for the “Mathathon” at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. Dozens of teams would work to solve vexing math problems with the help of artificial intelligence as part of “the first hackathon ever devoted to research level mathematics,” according to the early September post. AI juggernauts Anthropic and OpenAI were set to sponsor the two-day competition.

The backlash came swiftly. Critics objected not only to using AI to tackle open problems, but also to the involvement of AI companies whose models and research practices they have criticized.

Within days, current and former Caltech mathematicians published an open letter calling on the undergraduate organizers to suspend the event. The Mathathon, they argued, would only fuel the creation of “slop mathematics” and serve as public relations for the companies.

Instead of canceling the event, Caltech student organizers responded as any mathematician would — they tried to solve the problem.

The undergraduates redesigned the competition. Instead of trying to solve open mathematical problems, teams will now aim to develop alternative proofs for existing, yet unsatisfying solutions. The November event will also no longer be sponsored by the companies that develop proprietary AI models.

“We came to the decision that we want to put up an event that unites the math community, rather than divides it,” Brian Zhao, one of the Mathathon organizers and a junior studying applied mathematics at Caltech, told EdSource.

The controversy over the Mathathon event laid bare the growing tensions unfolding in the mathematics community over what role AI should play in advancing the field.

AI has already helped to solve elusive math problems. OpenAI announced this month that it used an internal AI model “significantly more capable” than the latest publicly available models to solve one of the remaining six Millennium Prize Problems. But mathematicians have warned about AI’s negative impact on mathematics students, and criticized these companies’ approach to solving high-profile problems.

“To put it bluntly, AI companies are engaging in research misconduct,” wrote the authors of the open letter, which gained the signatures of 2,038 academics as of this week.

‘That’s not the culture of mathematics’

Earlier this summer, Zhao and his roommate came up with their idea of a fun weekend: lock themselves in a basement and try to solve math problems for 40 hours straight. He was inspired by hackathon-style competitions in which programmers and designers compete to build hardware or software under deadline.

The idea of using AI to try to solve open math problems was two-fold. With mathematics undergoing one of the biggest changes in decades because of AI, the Caltech undergrads wanted to organize an event to experiment with AI and better understand how the field may evolve by the time they start graduate school.

Also, the students hoped that advertising the event with flashy statements — like suggesting teams would have access to $2 million in AI credits — would attract high-profile professors as judges and big lab sponsors.

“What is the role of a mathematician when AI can solve conjectures faster?” Mathathon organizers initially asked on the event’s website.

The AI-infused premise of Mathathon drew the ire of current and former Caltech mathematicians.

“I found it pretty outrageous, taking $2 million worth of sponsorships from OpenAI and Anthropic (and) partnering with these companies that have been, in my opinion, and many other mathematicians’ opinion, very disrespectful to our field,” said Yujin Kim, a postdoctoral fellow in Princeton University’s math department.

Kim had been critical of OpenAI’s approach to solving elusive mathematics problems in viral social media videos. The companies’ sponsorship of the event “felt like aligning with the empire,” Kim said.

“I can’t imagine [the Mathathon] would go any way other than just essentially button pressing and prompting,” Kim said. “That’s not the culture of mathematics. That’s not how we operate.”

After the backlash, OpenAI pulled its support from the event.

“We recognize that the rapid progress of AI in mathematics is disruptive,” Dan Roberts, OpenAI’s research lead, said in a social media post after the open letter was published. A spokesperson for Anthropic declined to comment.

The updated Mathathon competition will allow participants to use AI, but highly encourage them to use open-source tools that can be modified by the public instead of proprietary models run by private entities like OpenAI.

“We are proud of all of our students for the passion, drive, and maturity they have shown throughout this development,” Caltech spokesperson Emily Velasco said in a statement. “The spirit of open inquiry is central to the scientific process, and we hope to see a continued exchange of ideas as the math community charts its course forward.”

Zhao said he and his fellow organizers are determined to move forward with hosting the event. He said organizers hope the Mathathon will allow students to discover ways to use the technology responsibly, and build a bridge between AI developers and the math community.

AI can act like a shortcut to solving math problems

AI has conjured much debate in the math community, some of which has been overdue, said Dimitri Shlyakhtenko, a UCLA math professor who has followed Mathathon developments but did not sign the open letter.

From the outside, it may look like AI is upending the field by solving high-profile problems that have stumped mathematicians for decades. But the reality is more nuanced, Shlyakhtenko said.

“It is very rare that some result in mathematics is obtained out of nothing,” he said. “It usually builds on a mountain of other works that happen, and usually there’s a community of people that care about a particular set of problems.”

Mathematics problems aren’t about the destination of finding a solution, he said. Rather, mathematicians develop new techniques and understandings along the journey to solve a problem. He likened it to hiking to a waterfall. The end goal is to see the waterfall, but the things you discover along the journey are also quite interesting and of value.

With AI, he said that “what we’re seeing right now is that it is sometimes possible to take a kind of a direct shortcut.”

Some mathematicians worry that using AI to solve problems robs training opportunities from younger mathematicians.

Training problems provide opportunities for graduate students to learn skills and approaches to mathematics, but “if those just get solved, then the motivation to do it is kind of gone, right?” Shlyakhtenko said.

Over the past several months, as the Mathathon drama unfolded, Zhao said he has learned two important lessons: Be ambitious and be humble.

Maintaining the lofty goal of the event — of trying to help unravel the thorny debate of AI’s role in mathematics — has helped the team persist in the face of challenges, Zhao said. He added that it also developed the event into something more than just a fun, competitive weekend. The conversations with mathematicians around the world about the event have also taught him to be wary of flashy statements.

“If we just present ourselves honestly as undergrads who are curious about AI, we actually attract more sympathy,” Zhao said. “We actually attract more mathematicians who are willing to help us.”

The Orange County Transportation Authority approved $10.5 million for Metrolink services for the second quarter of the fiscal year as the rail service faces a dip in ridership and rising operational costs.

A majority of Metrolink’s budget is funded by Orange, Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura counties’ transportation departments.

The OCTA board’s approval this week follows a previous $14.5 million contribution in June to support Metrolink services for the first quarter of the fiscal year. Funding for the remainder of the year depends on a formal Metrolink budget request, board approval and approval from neighboring transportation authorities.

How did we get here? 

In December, OCTA told Metrolink that its fiscal year 2026-27 contribution would need to remain at no more than $46 million. But in July, Metrolink submitted an operating budget draft that would exceed OCTA’s contribution limit by about $6 million. OCTA tasked Metrolink with coming back with a revised budget that is within its contribution limits.

“Metrolink ridership has suffered since the pandemic began over six years ago,” Andrew Oftelie, OCTA's chief financial officer, said. “Metrolink ridership today is at about two-thirds of what it was prior to the pandemic. Lower ridership combined with higher costs has meant that Metrolink has asked member agencies like OCTA to fund a greater percentage of the service.”

The amount Metrolink asked for from OCTA has almost doubled since pre-COVID, Oftelie added, and OCTA’s contribution has not been a huge budget issue in the last five years because of a “significant amount of one-time” state and federal funds.

“Those one-time funds have all been exhausted at this point, which is why we gave Metrolink a budget target this year,” Oftelie said. “That budget target was commensurate with the amount of ongoing revenues we expect to receive from Metrolink service going forward.”

Why it matters

In a presentation to the OCTA finance and administration committee on Sept. 17, Metrolink CEO Darren Kettle said the Orange County line is the rail’s highest revenue generator.

Ridership has grown slightly over the last two years, he added, but challenges remain. In creating a budget for this fiscal year, Metrolink officials have made $16 million in budget cuts. In April, LA Metro also proposed to reduce its subsidy to Metrolink by 3%.

“The last thing I want to do … is pin this on our member agencies,” Kettle said. “The fact of the matter is we would have a challenging financial situation without those reductions from LA Metro and OCTA.”

What’s next? 

Oftelie told the OCTA board that a revised budget request from Metrolink is expected this week.