The Daily Populous Wednesday November 19th, 2025 evening edition
Authored by nbcnews.com and submitted by DrexellGames

Larry Summers, the former treasury secretary and ex-president of Harvard University, announced Wednesday he would resign from the board of directors at OpenAI amid scrutiny on his connection to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein — ties that are now the subject of a new internal investigation at the Ivy League school.

"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 Wednesday. "I am grateful for the opportunity to have served, excited about the potential of the company, and look forward to following their progress."

Summers, who was treasury secretary under President Bill Clinton and served as a top economic adviser to President Barack Obama, joined the board of OpenAI in November 2023.

Larry Summers speaks during the World Economic Summit in Washington, D.C., in 2024. Mandel Ngan / AFP via Getty Images

OpenAI's board of directors said it respected Summers' decision to resign. "We appreciate his many contributions and the perspective he brought to the Board," the AI giant said in a statement.

Summers has been in the national spotlight following the House Oversight Committee’s publication of more than 20,000 documents from Epstein’s estate, including extensive email exchanges between Summers and Epstein.

Summers announced Monday he would step back from public commitments. He said he would continue teaching at Harvard University, where he was president from 2001 to 2006.

“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 in a statement.

Harvard, for its part, plans to open an investigation into Summers' ties to Epstein, a spokesman for the school confirmed to the campus newspaper.

In a statement to The Crimson, the student newspaper, university spokesman Jonathan L. Swain said Harvard 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."

Swain did not immediately respond to NBC News' request for comment Wednesday.

The emails show Summers and Epstein communicated as recently as 2019, more than a decade after the financier pleaded guilty to soliciting prostitution from a minor. They continued to correspond until July 5, 2019, a day before Epstein was arrested and charged with sex trafficking of minors.

In one batch of emails, Summers sought Epstein's advice on his relationship with an unnamed woman. Epstein described himself as a "pretty good wing man." In another exchange, Summers lamented that men who "hit on" women in the workplace may suffer career repercussions.

Summers has not been accused of participating in any of Epstein’s alleged criminal behavior.

Two prominent news organizations are also ending their relationships with Summers. In an email this week, a spokesman for The New York Times said the organization does "not intend to renew" Summers' contract as a contributing writer for the opinion section. Summers is also no longer a paid contributor to Bloomberg, a spokesperson for the company told NBC News.

Summers was a frequent guest on Bloomberg's "Wall Street Week" program, which was shown on the Bloomberg cable channel in the U.S. and internationally, and also went out on PBS stations around the country.

In the wake of the document release, Summers was named as a target for investigation by President Donald Trump, who was repeatedly named in the trove of communications. Trump has denied any wrongdoing and said he ended his friendship with Epstein sometime in the 2000s.

In a Truth Social post Friday, Trump wrote that he would ask Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate Epstein's involvement with prominent Democrats, including Summers and Clinton.

Bondi responded to the post on X, writing that she was assigning Jay Clayton, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, to the matter.

Yeeaaaarrrgh on November 19th, 2025 at 14:28 UTC »

His lawyer has released a statement:

"ChatGPT board members can make mistakes. Consider checking important information."

ashsolomon1 on November 19th, 2025 at 14:28 UTC »

Definition of “I’m not sorry I did it, I’m sorry I got caught”

DrexellGames on November 19th, 2025 at 14:24 UTC »

He's ashamed he got caught