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Ex-Treasury chief the Harvard professor is exiting the board at the artificial intelligence firm, just several days after a batch of electronic messages between him and late convicted sex offender the accused trafficker became publicly available.

He stated in a release that he was "grateful for the opportunity to have served, enthusiastic about the potential of the enterprise, and look forward following their development".

The former Harvard president, who formerly presided over the Ivy League institution, announced on recently that he would be stepping back from public responsibilities due to his connections with Epstein.

Email Communications

The freshly disclosed communications revealed that Summers exchanged messages with the financier until the day before his 2019 arrest for accused sex trafficking of underage individuals.

In a separate statement, the AI firm expressed it accepted his choice to step down.

"We value his many contributions and the viewpoint he provided to the directors," OpenAI stated.

Congressional Action

This announcement arrives after the two houses of Congress decided on this week to approve a bill that would require the US justice department to release its documents on Jeffrey Epstein.

The measure will afterward move to the administration of President Trump for signature. Trump has said he intends to approve the measure, after changing his position on the subject following pressure from his followers.

Message Details

A collection of Epstein-related correspondence made public by the House Oversight Committee last week referenced multiple prominent individuals in the Epstein's previous network, without suggesting any criminal activity by those people.

The messages indicated that the economist and Epstein dined together frequently, with the billionaire often attempting to introduce the official to notable international personalities.

Personal Response

After the messages were made available with the wider community, the former official said he assumed "full responsibility for my misguided decision to persist in corresponding with Mr Epstein".

He continued that he wanted "to reestablish trust and fix relationships with the people most important to me".

Professional History

The professor served in senior posts under Democratic administrations; serving as treasury secretary under the former president, and as director of the National Economic Council under President Obama.

He led the university from five years and continues to be a faculty member there. When stating his step-down from public roles previously on this week, he said he would continue his academic responsibilities.

Other Impacts

Following his statement on Monday, the Center for American Progress, a progressive think tank in the capital where Summers was a senior fellow, verified that he was no longer affiliated with the institution.

The former official entered the leadership of OpenAI, which creates the language model, in last year - following a defeated move to remove its top executive Sam Altman.