Larry Summers resigns from OpenAI board over Epstein ties; Harvard to investigate
by Allen Cone & Chris Benson · UPINov. 19 (UPI) -- Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Larry Summers announced Wednesday he will resign from the OpenAI board of directors following intensified scrutiny over emails between him and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Harvard University also said Wednesday that Summers will not finish the semester as an instructor, and the Ivy League school is planning an investigation into the ties with Epstein after the release of emails and documents by a House committee investigating the disgraced financier's relationship with girls.
And The New York Times does "not intend to renew" Summers' contract as a contributing writer for the opinion section in an email to NBC News. Summers is also no longer a paid contributor to Bloomberg, a spokesperson for the company told NBC News.
Summers, 70, revealed Monday that he will "step back" from all public duties.
"In line with my announcement to step away from my public commitments, I have also decided to resign from the board of OpenAI," Summers told CNBC and CNN in a statement.
"I am grateful for the opportunity to have served, excited about the potential of the company, and look forward to following their progress."
The AI company said it respected his decision.
"We appreciate his many contributions and the perspective he brought to the board," the OpenAI board of directors said in a statement.
Summers and Epstein communicated until July 5, 2019, which was a day before Epstein was arrested and charged with sex trafficking of minors. And it was more than a decade after the financier pleaded guilty to soliciting prostitution from a minor in Palm Beach County, Fla.
Summers, who has not been accused of participating in any of Epstein's behavior, sought Epstein's advice on his relationship with an unnamed woman. Epstein said he was a "pretty good wing man." In another exchange, Summers wrote that men who "hit on" women in the workplace may suffer career repercussions.
This week, Summers said he was "deeply ashamed" after emails released last week revealed years of correspondence with Epstein.
"I take full responsibility for my misguided decision to continue communicating with Mr. Epstein," Summers said in a statement.
Summers, former secretary of the United States Treasury under President Bill Clinton, was later president of Harvard from 2001 to 2006 and director of the National Economic Council under then-President Barack Obama. He has been a professor at Harvard since 2011.
Harvard duties
In a statement to The Harvard Crimson, the school's student newspaper, university spokesman Jonathan Swain said the Ivy League school "is conducting a review of information concerning individuals at Harvard included in the newly released Jeffrey Epstein documents to evaluate what actions may be warranted."
The investigation will include messages Summers and Epstein exchanged over women, politics and Harvard-related initiatives.
In a 2020 Harvard report, Epstein donated around $9 million to the school between 1998 and 2008. Harvard agreed to adopt new guidelines on accepting potentially controversial gifts and revise procedures for appointing visiting fellows. Epstein held a one-year degree-seeking research position that Epstein during Summers' presidency.
In 2016, Summers resigned as president after his remarks on women in science at an economics conference in 2005 and Harvard faculty concerns over his management of the school, The Crimson reported.
On Wednesday, he also departed as an instructor and was on leave as director of a center on policy issues in the public and private sector, The Crimson reported.
University spokesperson Jason Newton confirmed that Summers had communicated his decision to Harvard.
"His co-teachers will complete the remaining three class sessions of the courses he has been teaching with them this semester, and he is not scheduled to teach next semester," a spokesperson for Summers wrote in a Wednesday statement.
Summers also will go on leave as the director of the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government at the Harvard Kennedy School. Since 2011, he has led the center.
"Mr. Summers has decided it's in the best interest of the Center for him to go on leave from his role as Director as Harvard undertakes its review," the spokesperson wrote in a Wednesday statement.
Harvard Law School professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz and English professor emerita Elisa New, who is married to Summers, are mentioned in the documents.
Democrats' ties to Epstein
Last week, Trump wrote on Truth Social that he would ask Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate Epstein's involvement with prominent Democrats, including Summers and Clinton. The Justice Department later confirmed an investigation was underway.
Trump has said the Epstein case is a "Democrat hoax," though Trump has been named in several emails. Trump at times has been registered as a Democrat.
On Tuesday, Congress overwhelmingly passed a bill to release all Epstein files with one opponent in the House and none in the Senate.
The bill was formally sent to President Donald Trump on Wednesday morning, and that night he announced on Truth Social he signed it.
He had opposed the "discharge petition" in the House that required Speaker Mike Johnson to have a floor vote.