Former Treasury Secretary and Harvard President Larry Summers resigned from the board of OpenAI amid the fallout over his correspondence with disgraced late financier Jeffery Epstein.
“I am deeply ashamed of my actions and recognize the pain they have caused. I take full responsibility for my misguided decision to continue communicating with Mr. Epstein. While continuing to fulfill my teaching obligations, I will be stepping back from public commitments as one part of my broader effort to rebuild trust and repair relationships with the people closest to me,” Summers said in a statement to Fox News.
OpenAI’s board responded to the announcement, saying, “Larry has decided to resign from the OpenAI Board of Directors, and we respect his decision. We appreciate his many contributions and the perspective he brought to the Board.”
LARRY SUMMERS STEPS BACK FROM PUBLIC ROLES AFTER HOUSE RELEASE OF EPSTEIN CORRESPONDENCE
Summers’ decision to step away from multiple public roles comes after the release of seven years’ worth of his correspondence with Epstein.
In a statement released Monday to The Harvard Crimson, Summers said his decision to step away from public roles was part of an effort “to rebuild trust and repair relationships with the people closest to me.”
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The documents showed Summers and Epstein corresponding as recently as July 5, 2019, the day before the disgraced financier was arrested on sex trafficking charges. In the messages, Summers confided in Epstein about his pursuit of a romantic relationship with a woman he described as a mentee.
Among the released messages was one from November 2018, in which Epstein describes himself as Summers’ “wing man,” as he continued advising Summers on the relationship for months.
On Tuesday, The Harvard Crimson reported that the Ivy League university was opening a probe into Summers’ relationship with Epstein.
“The university 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,” Harvard spokesperson Jonathan L. Swain wrote in a statement to the student newspaper.
Harvard had its attorneys conduct a sweeping probe of the Ivy League university’s ties to Epstein in 2020. The new investigation, according to the student newspaper, will also involve probes into Harvard affiliates implicated in the documents, including Summers’ wife.
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