As Congress perhaps, potentially, eventually looks to release the Epstein files, an email document dump from Jeffrey Epstein’s estate released last week by the House Oversight Committee has already made some shocking revelations.
And those emails have led to at least one high-profile resignation at one of the world’s largest tech companies.
Economist Larry Summers, a former Treasury secretary under the Clinton administration and former president of Harvard, has resigned from OpenAI’s board, according to statements provided to Axios by Summers and the company. Summers previously acknowledged that he was stepping away from all public commitments in light of the release of the Epstein documents.
“Consistent with my announcement of stepping away from my public commitments, I have also decided to resign from the board of OpenAI,” Summers said in a statement to Axios. “I am grateful for the opportunity to serve, excited about the company’s potential and look forward to following their progress.”
Despite Summers’ statements, he plans to continue teaching at Harvard, where he currently works as an economics professor, Axios also reported.
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“Larry has decided to resign from the OpenAI board of directors and we respect his decision,” OpenAI’s board said in a statement. “We appreciate his many contributions and the perspective he brings to the board.”
Summers’ connection to Epstein has been long known. During Summers’ tenure as Harvard president, Epstein donated millions of dollars to the university. During this time, Epstein was also given his own private office in the school. Flight records released during the 2021 trial of Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell revealed that Summers had previously flown on Epstein’s private plane. harvard crimson,
However, newly released email documents revealed that Summers’ relationship with Epstein continued after Epstein’s 2008 conviction for soliciting prostitution of a minor. In emails from 2018 and 2019, Summers reached out to Epstein and asked for advice about pursuing an affair outside his marriage with a woman he described as a “mentee.” In the email, Epstein described himself as Summers’ “wing man.” In addition to discussing romantic relationships, Summers also made several sexual comments.
Summers’ last correspondence with Epstein, the email documents show, occurred on July 5, 2019 — just one day before Epstein was arrested and federally charged with sex trafficking of minors.
Disclosure: Mashable’s parent company Ziff Davis filed a lawsuit against OpenAI in April, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in the training and operation of its AI systems.