OpenAI demonstrates that reinforcement learning significantly enhances large language models' performance on complex competitive programming tasks.

• Tested models at the International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI) 2024 with impressive results
• Compared general-purpose reasoning models (o1 and early o3) against a domain-specific system (o1-ioi)
• Leveraged specialized inference strategies designed specifically for competitive programming
• Demonstrated practical applications of LLMs in solving complex algorithmic challenges

This research has significant implications for programming education, as these models could help students learn complex algorithms and programming techniques by demonstrating expert-level problem solving approaches.

Original Paper: Competitive Programming with Large Reasoning Models