PROVED
This has been solved in the affirmative.
If $G$ is a graph on $n$ vertices which contains no trivial (empty or complete) subgraph on $\geq 10\log n$ many vertices, then must $G$ contain an induced non-trivial regular subgraph on $\gg \log n$ many vertices?
A question of Erdős, Fajtlowicz, and Staton. Erdős
[Er93] writes 'Perhaps very much more is true but we could not even prove this seemingly weak result'.
By Ramsey's theorem every graph on $n$ vertices contains a trivial subgraph on $\gg \log n$ many vertices.
This is true, and was proved by Prömel and Rödl
[PrRo99], in the strong sense that, for any $c>0$, if $G$ contains no trivial subgraph on $\geq c\log n$ vertices then $G$ contains all graphs with $O_c(\log n)$ many vertices as induced subgraphs.
See also
[82] for how large an induced regular subgraph a general graph must contain.
View the LaTeX source
Additional thanks to: Mehtaab Sawhney
When referring to this problem, please use the original sources of Erdős. If you wish to acknowledge this website, the recommended citation format is:
T. F. Bloom, Erdős Problem #1031, https://www.erdosproblems.com/1031, accessed 2026-01-16