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One-time economic leader Larry Summers is departing from the board at the ChatGPT creator, just several days after a collection of electronic messages between him and deceased financier the disgraced billionaire became public.

Summers stated in an announcement that he was "thankful for the opportunity to have participated, optimistic about the prospects of the enterprise, and anticipate observing their progress".

Summers, who formerly led the Ivy League institution, stated on Monday that he would be withdrawing from public roles due to his connections with Epstein.

Message Exchange

The recently released messages showed that Summers communicated with Epstein until the day before the financier's 2019 arrest for suspected sex trafficking of underage individuals.

In a separate statement, the technology organization stated it understood his determination to resign.

"We acknowledge his significant contributions and the insight he brought to the Board," OpenAI remarked.

Congressional Action

This announcement follows after both chambers of Congress voted on recently to pass a legislation that would mandate the US justice department to release its files on Jeffrey Epstein.

The bill will subsequently head to the desk of US President Donald Trump for approval. The President has said he intends to sign the bill, after reversing his stance on the matter following pressure from his supporters.

Email Contents

A group of Epstein-related messages released by the legislative panel days ago referenced numerous high-profile figures in the billionaire's former circle, without implying any legal wrongdoing by those individuals.

The emails revealed that the economist and Epstein regularly had dinners together, with he often trying to introduce the academic to influential international personalities.

Individual Statement

After the emails were made available with the wider community, the former official stated he accepted "total ownership for my misguided judgment to persist in corresponding with the financier".

He added that he desired "to reestablish faith and repair bonds with the individuals nearest to me".

Previous Positions

Summers held high-level positions under Democratic administrations; acting as economic leader under Bill Clinton, and as leader of the White House economic team under President Obama.

He led Harvard from the early 2000s and is still a professor there. When announcing his step-down from public commitments previously on this week, he indicated he would persist with his academic responsibilities.

Further Repercussions

Following the economist's statement on earlier this week, the policy organization, a left-leaning think tank in the capital where Summers was a prominent member, announced that he was ceased to be affiliated with the group.

Summers became part of the directorate of the AI company, which creates the AI chatbot, in 2023 - following a unsuccessful effort to oust its top executive OpenAI's head.