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Former US treasury secretary Lawrence Summers is exiting the governing body at OpenAI, just several days after a series of electronic messages between him and deceased financier Jeffrey Epstein became widely known.

The economist stated in an announcement that he was "thankful for the privilege to have participated, optimistic about the potential of the company, and eagerly await observing their development".

The prominent academic, who formerly presided over Harvard University, stated on recently that he would be withdrawing from public responsibilities due to his connections with the convicted sex offender.

Digital Correspondence

The recently released messages showed that the official communicated with Epstein until the 24 hours preceding his 2019 arrest for accused sex trafficking of minors.

In a separate statement, the artificial intelligence company expressed it accepted Summers' decision to depart.

"We acknowledge his significant contributions and the insight he provided to the Board," OpenAI remarked.

Legislative Background

This announcement comes after the two houses of the US legislature decided on this week to pass a measure that would require the US justice department to release its records on Epstein.

The bill will afterward move to the administration of President Trump for endorsement. Trump has stated he expects to sign the bill, after changing his view on the issue following pushback from his followers.

Message Details

A batch of financier-linked messages disclosed by the House Oversight Committee days ago included multiple high-profile figures in the Epstein's former circle, without suggesting any illegal behavior by those people.

The emails showed that Summers and Epstein regularly had dinners together, with he often attempting to connect Summers to influential international personalities.

Personal Response

After the correspondence were released with the general audience, the former official stated he accepted "total ownership for my poor decision to continue corresponding with Mr Epstein".

He continued that he wanted "to restore faith and repair bonds with the people most important to me".

Career Background

Summers served in leadership roles under two Democratic presidents; serving as economic leader under Bill Clinton, and as director of the White House economic team under President Obama.

He led Harvard from 2001 to 2006 and is still a academic there. When declaring his step-down from public roles previously on Monday, he stated he would persist with his teaching commitments.

Further Repercussions

Following Summers' announcement on Monday, the Center for American Progress, a liberal policy institute in the capital where the professor was a prominent member, confirmed that the economist was no longer associated with the institution.

Summers entered the directorate of OpenAI, which develops the AI chatbot, in the previous year - following a defeated move to remove its chief executive Sam Altman.