Larry Summers quits OpenAI board after release of Epstein emails

Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Larry Summers is resigning from OpenAI’s board of directors, the ChatGPT maker and his office said Wednesday.

His departure comes after the release of emails showing he maintained a friendly relationship with Jeffrey Epstein long after the financier pleaded guilty to soliciting prostitution from an underage girl in 2008.

“Larry has decided to resign from the OpenAI Board of Directors, and we respect his decision,” the board said in a statement. “We appreciate his many contributions and the perspective he brought to the Board.”

In a separate statement issued by his spokesperson, Summers said: “In line with my announcement to step away from my public commitments, I have also decided to resign from the board of OpenAI. I am grateful for the opportunity to have served, excited about the potential of the company, and look forward to following their progress.”

The announcement arrived one day after Summers said he’s stepping back from public commitments.

He did not detail exactly what that would entail, saying in a statement that he would continue to teach and promised to “rebuild trust and repair relationships with the people closest to me.”

“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,” Summers said.

The Center for American Progress, a progressive DC-based think tank, confirmed Tuesday that Summers was “ending his fellowship at CAP.” A spokesperson for the Budget Lab at Yale also said Summers is no longer a member of the organization’s advisory group.

Summers, 70, who is also the former president of Harvard University, joined the OpenAI board in November 2023, part of an effort to restore stability at the San Francisco-based nonprofit and bring back its CEO Sam Altman after its previous board members fired Altman days earlier.

Epstein, who died by suicide several years ago, was a convicted sex offender infamous for his connections to wealthy and powerful people, making him a fixture of outrage and conspiracy theories about wrongdoing among American elites.