US government documents have revealed that Jeffrey Epstein, the late convicted sex offender, provided financial support to AI pioneer Ben Goertzel and helped him secure HK$8.9 million in Hong Kong government grants for his projects in the city.
Email exchanges from the Epstein files show that the financier funded OpenCog, Goertzel's open-source AI framework, with at least US$113,000 over five years from 2010 to 2015. This support extended to unlocking significant government funding in Hong Kong, where Goertzel once led AI and robotics initiatives.
The correspondence highlights how Epstein, who had embedded himself in elite circles of politics, academia, and science, became a key backer for Goertzel's work. There is no evidence linking Goertzel to Epstein's illegal activities.
In 2015, as news of Epstein's underage sex activities resurfaced, Goertzel sought an additional US$25,000 in financing from the financier. In an email, Goertzel described the allegations as possibly “an occurrence among reasonably mature people who mutually consented at the time.”
The exchanges illustrate Goertzel's efforts to curry favor with Epstein to access his vast wealth, amid the financier's pattern of supporting high-profile scientific endeavors.
Goertzel, responding to inquiries from the South China Morning Post about the relationship, stated that he wished he had never associated with the late financier and denied any knowledge of his illegal activities.
