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One-time economic leader the Harvard professor is exiting the directorate at OpenAI, just days after a collection of electronic messages between him and deceased financier the disgraced billionaire became widely known.

Summers stated in a release that he was "thankful for the opportunity to have contributed, optimistic about the potential of the enterprise, and anticipate tracking their development".

The prominent academic, who once headed the Ivy League institution, stated on recently that he would be withdrawing from public responsibilities due to his connections with the convicted sex offender.

Message Exchange

The freshly disclosed emails revealed that the economist exchanged messages with Epstein until the eve of the financier's 2019 detention for suspected human trafficking of underage individuals.

In additional comments, the technology organization said it understood his determination to step down.

"We appreciate his numerous inputs and the insight he provided to the Board," the organization commented.

Legislative Background

This announcement follows after the two houses of Congress agreed on Tuesday to pass a measure that would mandate the federal prosecutors to release its documents on the case.

The bill will afterward head to the office of the White House for endorsement. Trump has indicated he expects to approve the measure, after changing his position on the issue following pushback from his base.

Message Details

A batch of Epstein-related emails released by the Congressional committee recently referenced several high-profile figures in the billionaire's past associates, without implying any legal wrongdoing by those individuals.

The communications indicated that the economist and Jeffrey Epstein dined together frequently, with the billionaire often trying to introduce the academic to prominent international personalities.

Personal Accountability

After the messages were released with the public, he stated he accepted "complete accountability for my misguided decision to maintain interacting with the financier".

He added that he hoped "to reestablish faith and fix connections with the persons nearest to me".

Previous Positions

The professor occupied leadership roles under Democratic administrations; functioning as Treasury chief under Bill Clinton, and as director of the White House economic team under President Obama.

He headed Harvard from five years and is still a professor there. When announcing his step-down from public roles recently on this week, he stated he would persist with his teaching commitments.

Additional Consequences

Following the economist's announcement on Monday, the policy organization, a left-leaning think tank in the capital where the professor was a prominent member, verified that Summers was not connected with the organization.

The former official joined the board of the AI company, which creates ChatGPT, in the previous year - following a unsuccessful effort to oust its top executive the company leader.