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Ex-Treasury chief the Harvard professor is departing from the directorate at the ChatGPT creator, just days after a series of digital correspondence between him and notorious criminal the disgraced billionaire became publicly available.

Summers stated in an announcement that he was "grateful for the chance to have participated, excited about the promise of the organization, and anticipate observing their development".

The former Harvard president, who formerly headed Harvard University, announced on recently that he would be withdrawing from public commitments due to his connections with the convicted sex offender.

Digital Correspondence

The freshly disclosed messages showed that the official exchanged messages with Epstein until the 24 hours preceding Epstein's 2019 detention for accused human trafficking of underage individuals.

In additional comments, the artificial intelligence company expressed it accepted Summers' decision to resign.

"We appreciate his many contributions and the viewpoint he offered to the Board," the organization stated.

Legislative Background

This news comes after the two houses of Congress decided on this week to endorse a bill that would compel the US justice department to disclose its files on Epstein.

The bill will afterward move to the office of President Trump for endorsement. He has stated he expects to sign the measure, after changing his view on the issue following objections from his supporters.

Message Details

A collection of Epstein-connected correspondence made public by the Congressional committee days ago referenced numerous well-known personalities in the billionaire's previous network, without suggesting any illegal behavior by those individuals.

The messages showed that Summers and the financier regularly had dinners together, with the billionaire often attempting to connect the official to influential world leaders.

Personal Response

After the emails were made available with the general audience, he expressed he accepted "complete accountability for my ill-advised choice to continue interacting with Mr Epstein".

He further stated that he desired "to reestablish faith and mend bonds with the persons closest to me".

Professional History

Summers occupied leadership roles under two Democratic presidents; acting as treasury secretary under President Clinton, and as director of the economic advisory body under the former leader.

He presided over the institution from five years and continues to be a faculty member there. When announcing his step-down from public duties previously on Monday, he stated he would persist with his academic responsibilities.

Further Repercussions

Following his statement on Monday, the Washington think tank, a left-leaning policy institute in the capital where Summers was a senior fellow, announced that Summers was no longer affiliated with the organization.

The former official joined the board of OpenAI, which develops the AI chatbot, in last year - following a failed attempt to remove its CEO OpenAI's head.