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Ex-Treasury chief Larry Summers is leaving the board at OpenAI, just a week after a series of electronic messages between him and late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein became public.

The economist commented in an announcement that he was "appreciative for the privilege to have served, optimistic about the promise of the organization, and eagerly await tracking their advancement".

Summers, who previously led the prestigious university, declared on Monday that he would be scaling back from public commitments due to his connections with Epstein.

Digital Correspondence

The recently released messages revealed that the official communicated with the financier until the eve of the financier's 2019 arrest for suspected human trafficking of underage individuals.

In another announcement, the AI firm said it respected his decision to step down.

"We acknowledge his numerous inputs and the perspective he provided to the Board," the company stated.

Legislative Background

This announcement follows after the two houses of the legislative branch voted on this week to pass a legislation that would require the Department of Justice to release its documents on Jeffrey Epstein.

The measure will subsequently move to the desk of President Trump for signature. He has stated he plans to endorse the measure, after changing his view on the issue following objections from his followers.

Email Contents

A group of Epstein-related emails released by the Congressional committee last week included numerous prominent individuals in the billionaire's former circle, without indicating any illegal behavior by those individuals.

The messages revealed that the economist and Epstein dined together frequently, with he often attempting to introduce the official to notable global figures.

Personal Accountability

After the correspondence were made available with the general audience, he expressed he accepted "total ownership for my misguided judgment to continue corresponding with Jeffrey Epstein".

He added that he wanted "to rebuild confidence and mend bonds with the individuals most important to me".

Previous Positions

The economist held leadership roles under party leaders; serving as Treasury chief under Bill Clinton, and as leader of the White House economic team under the former leader.

He led Harvard from the early 2000s and is still a professor there. When stating his withdrawal from public commitments earlier on this week, he indicated he would persist with his teaching commitments.

Additional Consequences

Following the economist's announcement on earlier this week, the Center for American Progress, a left-leaning think tank in the capital where the professor was a senior fellow, announced that the economist was not associated with the organization.

Summers entered the directorate of OpenAI, which develops the AI chatbot, in last year - following a defeated move to remove its chief executive OpenAI's head.