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Ex-Treasury chief Larry Summers is exiting the board at the ChatGPT creator, just days after a series of digital correspondence between him and notorious criminal the disgraced billionaire became publicly available.

The economist commented in a statement that he was "appreciative for the opportunity to have participated, excited about the promise of the organization, and eagerly await following their development".

The former Harvard president, who once presided over Harvard University, stated on earlier this week that he would be withdrawing from public roles due to his relationship with Epstein.

Email Communications

The recently released emails showed that the official communicated with Epstein until the 24 hours preceding the financier's 2019 detention for suspected trafficking of minors.

In additional comments, the AI firm said it accepted Summers' choice to depart.

"We acknowledge his many contributions and the perspective he brought to the governing body," OpenAI commented.

Legislative Background

This development comes after the two houses of the US legislature decided on recently to endorse a legislation that would require the Department of Justice to disclose its records on Jeffrey Epstein.

The measure will subsequently head to the office of US President Donald Trump for approval. Trump has stated he plans to endorse the bill, after changing his position on the issue following objections from his base.

Message Details

A batch of Epstein-related correspondence made public by the legislative panel days ago mentioned several prominent individuals in the billionaire's previous network, without indicating any criminal activity by those figures.

The messages indicated that Summers and Epstein regularly had dinners together, with Epstein often seeking to link the official to notable world leaders.

Personal Response

After the emails were made available with the public, Summers expressed he accepted "full responsibility for my ill-advised decision to persist in communicating with Mr Epstein".

He continued that he desired "to reestablish faith and fix relationships with the people nearest to me".

Career Background

Summers held leadership roles under party leaders; serving as economic leader under President Clinton, and as director of the White House economic team under Barack Obama.

He led Harvard from the early 2000s and remains a academic there. When announcing his step-down from public roles earlier on this week, he said he would continue his educational duties.

Additional Consequences

Following Summers' declaration on earlier this week, the policy organization, a liberal think tank in DC where Summers was a prominent member, verified that the economist was ceased to be affiliated with the group.

The former official entered the leadership of the technology firm, which makes the AI chatbot, in 2023 - following a defeated move to oust its CEO OpenAI's head.