The MIT Media Lab is one of the most renowned tech and research groups in the world. Located at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), it prides itself on disruptive ideas. His motto: "Inventing the Future" - inventing the future.
But it is the own past that is causing problems for the Media Lab.
More specifically, his connections to US financier Jeffrey Epstein. Even a month after his death, the scandal surrounding the alleged sex offender continues to circulate. The latest case: Joichi Ito, the former head of the Media Labs. The Japanese researcher resigned from office all weekend. He had taken on behalf of the million dollar donations of Epstein and hushed up their origin.
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Resigned MIT tech guru Joichi Ito
Ito's fate is similar to that of others who stumbled upon their contacts with Epstein. Donald Trump and Bill Clinton have hurriedly distanced themselves from their erstwhile friend. Prince Andrew and Epstein's ex-lawyer Alan Dershowitz are now fighting against abuse allegations. Labor Minister Alex Acosta lost his job because he was involved in the first Epstein case.
The connection between Epstein and the MIT illustrates yet another dimension of the case: Epstein sought the proximity of scientists and academics, who avidly overlooked his biography - and thus supported him in his criminal narcissism.
The well networked multimillionaire had escaped in 2008 as a sex offender with a mild sentence. In July, the US Attorney's Office again sued him for abusing dozens of minor girls. In early August, he was found dead in his detention cell. Post mortem examination: Suicide.
But who knew about - and tolerated - Epstein's machinations? How big was that really of his millions spun network?
Epstein found himself at MIT, the world-famous research center near Boston, as one of many major donors to finance such US institutions. In August, MIT president Rafael Reif declared "full of shame and pain" that the university received about $ 800,000 from Epstein in 20 years, unknowingly distracting from its "horrendous" deeds: "No excuse can make up for that."
It was a hint. Previously, Media Lab boss Ito, a highly respected tech guru, apologized for his Epstein contacts. Epstein donated $ 250,000 to Media Lab and another $ 1.2 million for start-up investment funds. Also, he, Ito, Epstein visited privately several times, but without having noticed anything of the "terrible deeds". It was "a misjudgment".
Of course, the magazine "New Yorker" revealed on Friday that Ito's responsibilities went much further. Thus, since 2008, Epstein has been marked as "disqualified" in the MIT database. Nevertheless, Ito urged him to continue donating and arranging 7.5 million dollars from others like Bill Gates. Epstein also visited the Media Lab 2015.
How to get it published in an interview with Media Lab Approved Donations directed by Jeffrey Epstein: Jeffrey Epstein has come to terms with this: https://t.co / KTdYdCbZ6u
- Ronan Farrow (@RonanFarrow) September 7, 2019Ito and others would have kept Epstein's name a secret, according to Investigative Reporter Ronan Farrow's report. Former Media Lab staff member Signe Swenson said Sunday on TV channel CNN that she vainly protested against Epstein's role and eventually quit in frustration.
Only a few hours after the revelations Ito resigned. At the same time, he placed his honorary posts with two foundations and on the supervisory board of the "New York Times".
MIT is not the only academic institution that used to associate with Epstein. Epstein and the entrepreneur Leslie Wexner, whose fortune he managed, financed in 1990 a new building for the Jewish center of the elite university Harvard not far from MIT. A plaque in the foyer reminded the donors for a long time, until it was removed from the university newspaper "Harvard Crimson" in 2018. Harvard also confirmed that Epstein donated $ 6.5 million to a research program. The money was already spent.
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Campus of Harvard University
Such conflicts are neither new nor rare in privately funded US research. "Since we have money," said fund-raising director Bill Stanczykiewicz of Indiana University's Washington Post, "we have dirty money."
Epstein, who did not have a degree himself, took advantage of this system to profile himself as a philanthropist - and to cover up his deeds. "He spent a lot of money on research," said his ex-lawyer Dershowitz, who taught law at Harvard University, the SPIEGEL. Epstein has often invited to "seminars" and dinner parties with prominent thinkers. "He gathered all those brilliant people around."
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United in research and flattery: University patron Jeffrey Epstein (left) and Harvard Professor Alan Dershowitz
Some have been advocates of obscure theories such as cryonics (the preservation of organs for revival), eugenics (a controversial racial theory), and transhumanism (the fusion of humans, technology, and genetics). All of these concepts had one thing in common - the creation of a new human form. For example, according to US media reports, Epstein's bizarre dream was to make dozens of women pregnant on his ranch in New Mexico to spread his DNA around the world and "improve" humanity.
The interface between technology and humans is also one of the research areas of the MIT Media Lab. It was funded by corporate sponsors such as Exxon Mobil, Citigroup, PepsiCo, GlaxoSmithKline and Jeffrey Epstein's Millions.
