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Former US treasury secretary the Harvard professor is exiting the board at OpenAI, just a week after a batch of electronic messages between him and late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein became public.

Summers commented in a release that he was "thankful for the opportunity to have participated, excited about the prospects of the organization, and anticipate observing their development".

The former Harvard president, who once led the prestigious university, stated on Monday that he would be scaling back from public commitments due to his connections with the convicted sex offender.

Message Exchange

The newly public emails revealed that Summers communicated with Epstein until the eve of the financier's 2019 arrest for accused trafficking of minors.

In a separate statement, the technology organization expressed it respected his decision to depart.

"We appreciate his many contributions and the insight he provided to the directors," the company stated.

Legislative Background

This development arrives after the entire Congress of Congress agreed on this week to pass a legislation that would compel the federal prosecutors to make public its documents on Epstein.

The bill will then head to the administration of US President Donald Trump for endorsement. He has stated he plans to approve the bill, after reversing his position on the matter following pushback from his base.

Correspondence Findings

A batch of Epstein-related correspondence disclosed by the legislative panel days ago referenced several prominent individuals in the financier's past associates, without suggesting any legal wrongdoing by those figures.

The communications indicated that the professor and the financier dined together frequently, with the billionaire often seeking to introduce the official to prominent international personalities.

Personal Response

After the emails were shared with the public, he stated he accepted "total ownership for my ill-advised decision to maintain interacting with Jeffrey Epstein".

He further stated that he desired "to reestablish faith and mend bonds with the people most important to me".

Professional History

Summers served in senior posts under Democratic administrations; serving as treasury secretary under President Clinton, and as director of the White House economic team under Barack Obama.

He led the university from five years and is still a professor there. When declaring his departure from public duties recently on Monday, he indicated he would maintain his educational duties.

Additional Consequences

Following Summers' statement on Monday, the Center for American Progress, a left-leaning think tank in DC where Summers was a prominent member, confirmed that the economist was not affiliated with the organization.

He entered the board of the technology firm, which develops the AI chatbot, in the previous year - following a defeated move to replace its CEO Sam Altman.