Mark Chen denies OpenAI accessed user data in Navier Stokes effort
Mark ChenOpenAI researcher explaining the company's process on his account
Separates a denial of targeted access during the project from acknowledged use of de-identified data and feedback to improve products.
Responding to
OpenAI says its researchers and agents did not access Buckmaster and Alpöge's unpublished work for the project.
“Did any human or agent look at user data as part of the Navier Stokes effort? No.”
Original post
Where this statement fits
Did OpenAI improperly pressure mathematicians over authorship and credit?
Tristan Buckmaster describes pressure over authorship and publication during discussions about competing AI-assisted mathematics results. Sébastien Bubeck disputes that characterization and says the proposed authorship concerned OpenAI's own proof. His apology for career-related wording does not settle the disagreement. Researchers and commentators divide over whether the negotiations were appropriate, while raising a separate dispute about the treatment of unpublished user research.
Source and context
Original post
About this source
Explicit denial that humans or agents accessed user data for the effort, while affirming broader use of de-identified data and feedback.
Before the quotation
Addresses public confusion over the official statement's data caveat.
After the quotation
This distinction does not resolve the separate normative question of whether training on research supplied by users is appropriate.
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
Narrow factual counter-position; does not eliminate the company's caveat about general training data.
- Recorded on
- Published here
- People and groups discussed
- OpenAI
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- Mark Chen denies OpenAI accessed user data in Navier Stokes effort
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The Dispute Index. "Mark Chen denies OpenAI accessed user data in Navier Stokes effort". First published: 2026-09-10. Last updated: 2026-09-30. https://disputeindex.com/events/300-separates-a-denial-of-targeted-access-during-the