Przemysław Dębiak: The Pole Who Defeated Artificial Intelligence in the Heart of Tokyo.

Przemysław Dębiak beat an AI tool to win the AtCoder World Tour Finals 2025 Heuristic Contest in Tokyo. Photo: Agata Jaskulska

A Spectacular Victory at the AtCoder World Tour Finals 2025

In one of the world’s most prestigious programming tournaments, held in Japan’s capital, before the eyes of experts, tech giants and observers from around the globe, something happened that many deemed impossible and which Przemysław himself estimated his chances of winning at just 5%.

Why Will This Victory Go Down in History?

Przemysław Dębiak, known in the community as “Psyho”, proved that the human mind can still surprise, inspire, and triumph in a direct duel with the most advanced artificial intelligence.
This exceptional Pole, a former student of the University of Warsaw and once an employee of OpenAI, stepped into battle against an AI model developed by that very organisation, a model designed specifically to solve complex optimisation problems. In the heuristic competition, one of the most challenging branches of algorithmics, he faced not only cold, flawless code, but also the enormous expectations of a world increasingly asking: Does humanity still stand a chance against the machine?

During a ten-hour computational marathon, contestants were tasked with solving the problem of navigating a robot through a dense grid of obstacles, a challenge of such high difficulty that it required not just precision, but genius.
Przemysław Dębiak scored approximately 1.81 trillion points, defeating the AI, which reached around 1.65 trillion. The advantage was indisputable, nearly a 10% difference, which in the world of programming is a chasm.

How Did a Pole Outwit Artificial Intelligence?

Among the defeated were not only representatives of the world’s most powerful tech corporations and top-ranked coders from global leaderboards, but above all the AI model itself, which was meant to showcase the power of a new technological era.
Dębiak outsmarted it by using intuition, multi-layered heuristic strategies, and something no model can replicate: human brilliance, instinct, and emotional commitment.

It is precisely this blend of intelligence, perseverance, and passion that made the Pole a symbol of something greater than victory. He became proof that when a human devotes themselves entirely to their discipline, they can rise above even the most refined algorithms.

While many programmers relied on AI-based tools for assistance, Dębiak stayed true to his method: a classic code editor, no autocompletion, no assistants, just him, his keyboard, and an unrelenting battle against time.

Reactions from the World of Technology and Media

Global media quickly picked up this victory. The CEO of OpenAI, Sam Altman, personally congratulated him on platform X with a short but powerful message: “Good job, Psyho.”
Internet users and journalists unanimously commented that this might be the last time a human defeats artificial intelligence. And if that’s the case, it was the most beautiful finale we could have hoped for.

The Significance of This Victory for Poland and the World

For Poland, it is a source of immense pride. Przemysław Dębiak is no longer just a master of algorithmics; he is now an ambassador of the human spirit: the kind that does not shy away from challenge, that confronts the impossible, and, against all odds, emerges victorious.

Editor Maria Anna Furman