Former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers announced Wednesday that he is resigning from the board of OpenAI.
According to CBS News, Summers is stepping away from several other public positions following the disclosure of emails between him and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
“In line with my announcement to step away from my public commitments, I have also decided to resign from the board of OpenAI,” Summers said 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 emails, released last week by the House Oversight Committee, showed regular communication between Summers and Epstein during the late 2010s.
This period was after Epstein pleaded guilty to prostitution charges in Florida but before he faced federal sex trafficking charges in 2019.
Some messages included casual banter, including discussion of a woman Summers knew in London, with Epstein appearing to offer advice.
Summers emphasized that there is no evidence of any illegal activity on his part. Nonetheless, the disclosures prompted him to step back from other roles, including positions with Bloomberg News, The New York Times, the Brookings Institution’s Hamilton Project, the Center for American Progress, the Peterson Institute for International Economics, and the Yale Budget Lab.
Summers, who served as Treasury Secretary under former President Bill Clinton and was a key economic adviser in the Obama administration, is also the former president of Harvard University, where he had been teaching two classes.Â
Harvard said Wednesday that it 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 move comes amid heightened scrutiny of Epstein’s connections to prominent figures. On Tuesday, both the House and Senate voted overwhelmingly to require the Justice Department to release its files on Epstein, sending the measure to President Donald Trump’s desk.
Epstein died by suicide in a New York City jail in 2019 while facing federal sex trafficking charges. He had previously pleaded guilty in 2007 to two prostitution counts in Florida as part of a controversial deal that allowed him to avoid federal prosecution.
Summers’ resignations mark a significant ripple effect from the release of the documents, highlighting the lasting impact of Epstein’s network on high-profile public figures.
