(JEWISH VOICE NEWS) Former Treasury Secretary and ex-Harvard president Larry Summers has stepped down from the board of OpenAI after the release of thousands of documents detailing his years-long communications with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein—including messages in which Summers sought Epstein’s advice on how to pursue a female mentee whose father was a former Chinese Communist Party official, according to the Harvard Crimson, Axios, and documents released by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.’

Summers, who led Harvard from 2001 to 2006 and joined the OpenAI board in 2023 during the brief ouster of CEO Sam Altman, abruptly announced Monday that he was withdrawing from all public engagements. While he says he will continue teaching, the Crimson reported that his Harvard office was empty Monday evening.

“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 Axios, adding that he remained “grateful for the opportunity” and planned to “follow [OpenAI’s] progress.”

His departure comes after more than 20,000 documents from Epstein’s estate were made public by the House Oversight Committee. The trove includes extensive conversations between Epstein and prominent Harvard affiliates—summaries, messages, and funding discussions that stretch years after Harvard insisted it had severed ties with the disgraced financier.

OpenAI acknowledged the resignation in a statement, 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.”

Meanwhile, fallout spread across New York’s financial world. The Economic Club of New York abruptly postponed a scheduled discussion with Summers just hours after the Crimson published its report, telling the Financial Times that the event was pushed due to an “unavoidable change in schedule.”

Harvard Launches New Probe

According to the Harvard Crimson, Harvard will now open a fresh investigation into its ties with Epstein—its second major probe since 2020, when the university disclosed that Epstein donated $9.17 million through 22 gifts, including a $736,000 contribution after his 2006 arrest but before his 2008 conviction. Epstein was even granted a Visiting Fellowship in Harvard’s Psychology Department during the 2005–06 academic year, despite lacking the qualifications typically required.

The newly released documents shed further light on Epstein’s ongoing involvement with Harvard figures, including Summers’ wife, Elisa New, an English professor emerita. The Crimson reports that New communicated frequently with Epstein about her projects and repeatedly solicited financial support years after Harvard said it cut off all Epstein donations. One 2014 exchange shows Epstein discussing a potential $500,000 gift to Poetry in America, New’s TV and digital initiative. She also accepted financial help from Leon Black, the Apollo executive and longtime Epstein associate—funding she explicitly thanked Epstein for arranging.

“It really means a lot to me, all financial help aside, Jeffrey, that you are rooting for me and thinking about me,” New wrote in 2015.

The document trove also includes appearances by Alan Dershowitz, the Harvard Law School professor emeritus long linked to Epstein.

Ultimately, the releases show Epstein advising Summers on extramarital pursuits while also assisting Summers’ wife with fundraising—a tangled web of personal, financial, and institutional connections that Harvard now says it will re-examine.

All reporting referenced: Harvard Crimson, Axios, Financial Times, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee documents.