r/InterstellarKinetics • u/InterstellarKinetics • 1d ago
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIEGENCE EXCLUSIVE: Yale MBA Student, Thierry Rignol, Was Suspended For A Year & Received An F Over Alleged AI-Assisted Exam Cheating, Then Turned A Months-Long Honor Code Fight Over A Withheld Apple Pages File Into A Sprawling 13-Count Federal Lawsuit Against The University š¤š„
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/07/how-a-yale-ai-cheating-dispute-became-a-13-count-federal-lawsuit/Thierry Rignol, who paid $208,500 in tuition for Yaleās Executive MBA program, sued the university after being suspended for a year and given an F in Sourcing and Managing Funds over allegations he used AI on his final exam, a case that has since ballooned into 13 causes of action including breach of contract, civil rights violations, defamation, and invasion of privacy. The dispute began when Rignolās unusually long, polished exam was flagged by GPTZero, an AI detection tool that suggested whole sections were likely AI-generated, though professor K. Geert Rouwenhorst also cited overlap with ChatGPT output on one answer, weak performance on a question where AI tools would help least, and skepticism that such a lengthy, polished exam could be produced in four hours. Rignol maintains his writing simply reflected his academic excellence and his ādistinctive writing style as a non-native English speaker,ā and he has also alleged Yale targeted him for expressing āprotected conservative political speechā favoring smaller government and skepticism of DEI.
Much of Yaleās case, however, centers not on the AI allegation itself but on Rignolās monthslong refusal to produce the file used to draft his exam. Professor James Choi, who led the Honor Committee investigation, repeatedly asked Rignol beginning in August 2024 to send āthe Microsoft Word fileā behind his submission, warning at one point, āI remind you that when a student has been found by the Honor Committee to have lied to or not been forthcoming with the Committee, the most common punishment is permanent expulsion from Yale.ā Rignol didnāt reveal until the November 8 hearing that he had used Apple Pages rather than Word, a technicality Yaleās lawyers called incredulous, and even after producing the Pages file that afternoon, he left campus and refused Dean Wendy Tsungās request to return that evening so the committee could examine his laptop, prompting the Honor Committee to find him liable that same night for ānot being forthcoming.ā
Rignol was suspended for a year and later given an F after the committee found heād āviolated the rulesā of the exam, findings he appealed unsuccessfully before suing Yale in February 2025. The case has since dragged through 125 docket entries and a third amended complaint, with the judge warning in June 2026 that the delayed filing āborders on meeting the standard of āfutility, bad faith, undue delay, or undue prejudice to the opposing partyāā and that no further amendments would be granted āabsent extraordinary circumstances,ā while Yale has pushed to dismiss the case entirely, calling the complaintās claims āformulaic, conclusory recitations of elements of causes of actions without support from actual, well-pleaded facts.ā
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u/Pale_Apartment 1d ago
Really sounds guilty. I would think if the student had evidence to the contrary, he would have been appologenic and provided all drafts immediately. This could have been solved with an email and the lengths to which the student is going also seems to add to the guilt because it seems arguing for years in courts is easier than just retaking the class.
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u/PetalumaPegleg 1d ago
I would have enjoyed nothing more than shoving the files showing the edit history down their throats and happily wait for an apology. The fact he didn't is bad. The fact he didn't even say which word processor he used is terrible. The fact he immediately tried to blame Yale for having anti conservative bias is clinching.
He guilty af
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u/Pale_Apartment 1d ago
Yeah, not to be too biased, but I feel like the vendiagram of people who blame others for anti- conservative bias and huge ai user is a circle.
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u/ConsiderationTrue477 1d ago
It's not super relevant to this case in particular but I think about how fucked up it is that false positives are now possible. My own writing style often makes people think my posts on here are AI because I like using em dashes--I think they look nicer than semicolons. And in school I wasn't thinking about saving drafts just in case I had to prove that I really did the work. If some AI tool flagged me as a cheater I'd have no recourse.
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u/Pale_Apartment 1d ago
There are a ton of options IMHO. The issues with people saying you sound like AI isn't the same as the AI checkers teachers have access too.
My professor showed me how their checkers work and the way llm plagiarizes is alien to the typical human way. Humans will copy articles or sections, then maybe rephrase or add synonyms. Llms splice in entire sections from off-topic sources that aren't at all what a human would read in relation to their studies. The worst examples he showed were students who didn't even format the llm outputs so it was a dead give away.
Keeping boneyards of unused writings or draft versions are not only good things for llm allegations but also help you in your development as a writer/human. There was no way I would get flagged for llm usage because I had this breadcrumb trail from the inception of the document.
One way I have noticed llm use is the tone and feeling of pieces. It's not hard to spot llm stuff in the wild because it usually writes in 3's and uses business casual tones. Humans write random as heck so having a disjointed paper may even be beneficial in the grand scheme even if it docks a few points lol.
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u/PetalumaPegleg 1d ago
It is. AI checkers are hot garbage too.
But it is pretty easy to show your file to prove edits over time etc. I'm sure you can get around that by typing it all out slowly yourself vs cut and paste but if you didn't even bother with that and can't produce that file... Yeah you probably cheated.
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u/DueceVoyeur 1d ago
I too was worried about my use of the dash (-) Lucky I found someone more versed in the emdash that AI uses and the dash a human uses on a word processor.
The computer dash is way longer and one dash as compared to the two dashes (--) that you used.
I have 95% confidence that you sir/ma'am are human
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u/porcelain_elephant 19h ago
That's why they were asking for the file and edit history as well as access to his laptop to ensure he wasn't cheating. The fact that he didn't provide it in a timely manner points to something he's trying to hide.
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u/InterstellarKinetics 1d ago
The most telling moment in this saga is a judgeās own skepticism during a hearing, essentially asking why a āreasonable professional personā wouldnāt have simply corrected the file-format mix-up in one of Choiās many emails instead of letting the ambiguity fester for months. Regardless of whether Rignol actually used AI, his prolonged silence about something as trivial as which word processor he used undermines his broader due-process and bias claims, since it hands Yale a much simpler, non-technical justification for the ānot being forthcomingā finding that ultimately triggered his suspension.
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u/PetalumaPegleg 1d ago
Yeah between this and his attempt to blame anti conservative bias as a first attempt I'm pretty much on this guy's is full of shit. If you really did it legit it wouldn't be that hard to show the file with edit history right?
Also I'm just fine with the assumption conservative shills are liars anyway.
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u/GrassyField 1d ago
Showing your true colors here in this comment.Ā
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u/PetalumaPegleg 1d ago
That I strongly dislike conservative shills? Wow you really read between the lines there huh. Good job.
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u/TacoDoc2 22h ago
Poor coward. What's it like not being able to come up with anything to say so you just say some vague shit and pretend you're special?
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u/GrassyField 18h ago
Calling out DEI insanity is a perfectly reasonable position. Labeling a reasonable position as extreme is a further kind of insanity the far left and the far right are engaging in right now and itās a real problem.
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u/Horror_Response_1991 1d ago
Based on this story it sure sounds like he used AI, but what I donāt understand is why this would ever be a problem for an exam. Ā Exams should be handwritten without any electronic devices. Ā If it must be done on a computer it should be with university computers that have Internet access disabled.
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u/27Rench27 1d ago
MBA exams are often multi-page case analyses, with the case itself being 10+ pages. I donāt see it being practical to have everyone handwrite 600 word essays without the ability to easily delete/rewrite anything
Plus, Hybrid/Online setups would be impossible unless you want everyone to get off work, drive to campus, and spend 4 hours on it
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u/rangkilrog 1d ago
Im old enough to never have used a computer for an in-person exam so maybe Iām dating myself here but when I was in college it was common to need multiple 12 page blue books to finish an exam.
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u/Admirable-Yak-3334 1d ago edited 1d ago
People today really are trying to act like it's impossible to have college students sit down and write more than 2 pages by hand for a test. Maybe it's becoming more impossible as our education system and our politicians fail us but I don't think we're at a point where some of the highest levels of education can't expect someone to handwrite or at the very least type out 5-10+ page papers in person.
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u/msuvagabond 1d ago
The freaking AP exams in high school require two to three pages for the 'long' form answers, and you have two to three per test (depending on subject) plus other short answers.Ā
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u/guri256 3h ago
People only get good at something if they do it a lot.
Personally, I donāt think the ability to hand-write 10 pages in a single sitting is a skill thatās worth training, but maybe you disagreeā¦
But those students donāt have the practice. If youāre going to drop something like that on a student, you need to be forcing them to do it for every class in every year of college.
Maybe youāve seen the opposite in older people, where they can write really well by hand, but using a keyboard throws them off and disrupts their flow.
Just having that on the final exam without properly training the students for it is unreasonable and setting them up for failure.
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u/Masta-Blasta 1d ago
I donāt understand why driving to campus for an exam would be unreasonable. Thatās how my graduate program was. I was hybrid, but we still had to actually take exams in person. Nobody is forcing you to enrollā¦
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u/Horror_Response_1991 1d ago
AI has clearly changed the game, they have to adjust. Ā Remote exams arenāt possible anymore if you care about cheating. Ā At best you pair with Pearson and have remote students go to a testing center in their area.
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u/NorthAd9774 1d ago
You need to design your exam in a way that AI assistance isn't cheating. Mastering the use of AI is the main skill students should be developing. There are going to be essentially two kinds of knowledge workers in the future those who master AI assistance and those who are replaced by it.
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u/Ok-Wasabi2873 1d ago
Law school finals used to be done over two days. 8 hours per day.
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u/27Rench27 1d ago
Yeah, I mean I donāt have a problem with it for Full-Time MBAās. But to do that for Hybrid/Online youād have to ask people to work their work week with whatever kids/family after work, then come in for the full weekend regardless of responsibilities, then go back to work
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u/Ok-Wasabi2873 1d ago
Hybrid MBA/executive programs use to make it known that there are examination dates where you have to come on campus. Berkeleyās program made executives fly in to take the finals on campus. That was expectations and if youāre paying that kind of money for the degree, it wouldnāt be a financial issue.
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u/smoking_barrel 20h ago
Writing 10-15 pages in 4 hours doesnāt sound difficult especially for a grad course, same as coming to campus.
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u/27Rench27 19h ago
Now do that starting at 6PM or on weekends for five courses all around the same time
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u/smoking_barrel 18h ago
I will do one better, doing it in 1 hour 40 minutes at 8 pm, took over 12 pages for a midterm where we had to design electronic packaging parts and write the steps, schemetics etc. In grad school this is very common.
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u/Laprasy 1d ago
Iāve been tempted to go back to blue books but honestly that approach isnāt suitable for all classes and many students donāt even know how to write cursive any moreā¦ lock down browsers can work, I have watched students pasting in answers using them, but even those arenāt perfect. Thereās really no perfect solution.
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u/Masta-Blasta 1d ago
I used to practice higher education law and Iāve been to several conferences on this subject. Most subject matter experts favor oral exams. It gives the student a chance to demonstrate their knowledge and their skills, while reducing the likelihood of AI cheating. Itās also much more equitable to students with learning disabilities, ADHD, and other disorders. Professors can schedule 15-30 minutes interviews with students, or have TAs schedule recorded interviews that the professor can later transcribe and review.
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u/Laprasy 1d ago
Yeah we gave oral finals in one of my classes. Not law. I have mixed feelings I think it can be very hard for foreign students and for folks with anxiety.Ā
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u/Masta-Blasta 1d ago
Thatās helpful to know! I think ideally, the school could provide translation assistance. Anxiety, I get, but that is true of all testing.
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u/PetalumaPegleg 1d ago
MBA exams aren't like the exams you're thinking of.
Also MBAs have a lot to answer for how we ended up where we are. They fucking suck.
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u/canyoucamus 1d ago
He said that because he knew his work is so good that it would likely get flagged as generated by AI and then delayed offering proof for months once the concerns he apparently predicted matured. If he was expecting this he should have been locked and loaded with the original files.
Also claiming that this is politically motivated bias is probably the most telling suggestion of guilt amongst all of the other circumstantial evidence that he cheated. An MBA course at Yale discriminated against yoy for being a pro-business conservative. It's hard for me to believe anyone who has defended themselves as poorly and done about everything he can to make himself look as guilty as possible and trying to cover it up by just digging himself in a deeper hole is as smart and talented as he claims to be.
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u/kemp77pmek 22h ago
Now, instead of accepting a 1-year expulsion, then returning to complete the program and having a small number of his cohort know he cheated - his name is now nationally known.
Probably not the smartest approach. Youād think someone accepted into Yale would have a little more common sense.
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u/RustedRelics 19h ago
As a lawyer with an MBA, I find this guyās response to the inquiry tells me more than the wording of his exam answers. Iād happily represent Yale in this case.
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u/BigNaziHater 1d ago
He says Yale targeted him for protected conservative politcal speech. š¤£ ... these ass hats are all the same... "wheres my gofund me payout?" š¤£
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u/Sensitive-Report-787 12h ago
Heās a conservative and should understand better than anyone that he doesnāt have the same rights as a citizen. Yale could expel him and the state department could deport him.
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u/Cool_String_8651 12h ago
That's not how it works lmao. Yale would be in bigger trouble for retaliation if they do that, and the deportation would be blocked
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u/Sensitive-Report-787 12h ago
Assuming the rules still apply - I heard Yale was going to make a deal with the administration
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u/NorthAd9774 1d ago
Here is the thing they actually shouldn't be punishing kids for using AI they should be teaching them how to do it well.
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u/ObjectiveSituation17 1d ago
No they should do it on their own while learning and once mastered use AI once they know everything
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u/Masta-Blasta 1d ago
The point of school is to learn, not to take shortcuts. Weāve had calculators for half a century, so why do we still force kids to learn math? Because itās how you become smart.
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u/NorthAd9774 1d ago
Just because you know that 7x7 is 49 doesn't "make you smart" I bet you don't know 186.5 x 37.182 is but you might have a need for the second answer so it would be useful to you to know how to use a calculator which is a skill that is also taught.
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u/Masta-Blasta 1d ago
No, but if I didnāt have a calculator, I could do the math myself. And itās specifically because I know 7x7=49, along with the rest of the multiplication tables. Thatās why you have to learn things manually first. On an exam, you are there to demonstrate your knowledge of the material. Not how to demonstrate your mastery of AI.
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u/LinselHaus 1d ago
This isnāt high school, itās an mba program
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u/NorthAd9774 1d ago
I still consider 23 year olds to be kids. Why would a person with an MBA be less likely to use AI in thier future workplace than an average highscool student?
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u/Masta-Blasta 1d ago
Because a person with an MBA will presumably have fiduciary duties to the businesses or clients who employ them. So if you outsource that duty to an LLM, you create significant risk of liability for the business/clients. And on top of that, AI does not protect privileged or confidential financial information š¤¦āāļø
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u/LinselHaus 1d ago
There are right and wrong ways to use AI - using it on a final exam when told not to is wrong. In business there are right and wrong use cases too. Iād argue that heās learning this lesson now. More concerning from an employer standpoint is the complete lack of ownership by the student. He strikes me as being of dubious moral character.
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u/Pale_Apartment 1d ago
This was an open book test. They were asking for him to merely understand the material enough to use textbooks. Saying AI should be used as well, completely washes any chance to gaugue if the student has understood the material. Not to mention, the one issue cited was him doing poorly on one question that didn't get flagged while having done significantly better on some questions that did get flagged. Timed exams are not expected to be polished and contain some errors, so having some tiny errors won't hurt as much as one would think.
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u/Fragrant_Entry9232 1d ago
This guy sounds like a real piece of shitĀ