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Former US treasury secretary the Harvard professor is departing from the board at the ChatGPT creator, just days after a series of digital correspondence between him and deceased financier the disgraced billionaire became publicly available.

He stated in an announcement that he was "grateful for the opportunity to have served, enthusiastic about the promise of the enterprise, and look forward following their advancement".

Summers, who once led the Ivy League institution, announced on Monday that he would be withdrawing from public responsibilities due to his relationship with the convicted sex offender.

Message Exchange

The freshly disclosed communications revealed that the official corresponded with Epstein until the 24 hours preceding his 2019 detention for accused human trafficking of underage individuals.

In another announcement, the AI firm said it understood the economist's decision to step down.

"We acknowledge his many contributions and the insight he provided to the directors," OpenAI remarked.

Legislative Background

This announcement follows after both chambers of Congress decided on this week to approve a legislation that would compel the federal prosecutors to release its files on the case.

The legislation will afterward head to the office of US President Donald Trump for approval. Trump has indicated he expects to approve the legislation, after reversing his position on the subject following objections from his followers.

Correspondence Findings

A group of Epstein-related correspondence released by the legislative panel days ago mentioned several prominent individuals in the financier's previous network, without implying any illegal behavior by those individuals.

The messages showed that the economist and Epstein often met for meals, with the billionaire often attempting to introduce the official to influential global figures.

Individual Statement

After the correspondence were made available with the public, Summers stated he accepted "complete accountability for my misguided decision to maintain corresponding with the financier".

He further stated that he desired "to rebuild trust and fix bonds with the persons closest to me".

Previous Positions

The professor occupied high-level positions under Democratic administrations; serving as economic leader under President Clinton, and as head of the White House economic team under Barack Obama.

He presided over Harvard from the early 2000s and continues to be a professor there. When stating his step-down from public duties previously on this week, he indicated he would persist with his academic responsibilities.

Other Impacts

Following the economist's statement on earlier this week, the Center for American Progress, a liberal research organization in Washington where he was a senior fellow, announced that the economist was no longer affiliated with the institution.

He entered the leadership of OpenAI, which develops the AI chatbot, in last year - following a failed attempt to remove its top executive the company leader.