Even AI researchers hobnobbed with Epstein, claim “strange vibe”

Twenty-three years after attending a Caribbean AI conference, leading computer scientists are revealing disturbing details about their 2002 encounter with Jeffrey Epstein, the financier later convicted as a child sex offender. The academics, who had accepted what they thought was a standard academic symposium invitation from “some rich guy,” now describe feeling unsettled by Epstein’s behavior and the “strange vibe” surrounding his private island operations.

What you should know: The St. Thomas Common Sense Symposium in April 2002 brought together about 20 AI pioneers to discuss artificial intelligence research, funded entirely by Epstein.

• Attendees included computer scientist Benjamin Kuipers from the University of Michigan, Mary Shepherd from AI company Cycorp, and the late MIT cognitive scientist Marvin Minsky.
• Epstein paid for luxury accommodations, travel expenses, and offered rides on his private jet to participants.
• The symposium took place on St. Thomas, with attendees also visiting Epstein’s private island Little St. James for a beach banquet.

Red flags they noticed: Several academics recalled feeling uncomfortable during their interactions with Epstein and observing concerning dynamics on his island.

• “Things just did not seem right,” said Shepherd, who noticed “a lot of security” and “a really strange vibe” during her visit to Little St. James.
• She encountered Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s associate and former girlfriend later convicted of sex trafficking, with two teenage girls she assumed were Maxwell’s children “because of the way they were interacting.”
• Kuipers observed that Epstein “had a number of attractive young women around” but dismissed it as typical behavior for wealthy men.

Business decisions influenced: The uncomfortable feelings led to at least one concrete business decision that likely saved reputations.

• Shepherd convinced her husband Doug Lenat to decline an investment offer from Epstein for their company Cycorp, telling him: “I don’t like him. There’s something wrong with him. He’s a wheeler-dealer, and he’s not the kind of person we want to be representing our technology.”
• After Epstein’s 2019 arrest, Shepherd reflected: “Wow, we really dodged that bullet. I’m really glad we got that feeling that he was skeevy because that would have been terrible.”

What they’re saying: Academics emphasized they witnessed no illegal activity but acknowledged missing warning signs that seem obvious in hindsight.

• “When the Epstein thing all hit the fan, people would say … ‘Everybody had to know,'” said Shepherd. “And I’m like, No, everybody didn’t have to know, because I didn’t know that this was going on.”
• Kuipers admitted: “Clearly, news these days makes it pretty clear that there was a subtext going on. I was completely clueless.”
• An anonymous attendee described Epstein as “like an ADHD curious kid” who would ask scientists technical questions followed by oddly personal ones.

The academic impact: Despite the lavish setting, the symposium itself left participants underwhelmed professionally.

• “I was actually somewhat disappointed because it had been built up as being this big deal, and it really wasn’t,” Shepherd recalled.
• Attendees said the conference had no significant impact on their subsequent AI research work.
• Aaron Sloman, who co-authored a paper on the discussions, suggested Epstein was “hoping to be able to use the new AI technology to extend/enhance his financial activities.”

Current context: The revelations come as President Trump resists calls to release FBI files on Epstein, his former close friend, amid renewed scrutiny of the financier’s extensive network of academic and business connections.