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Former US treasury secretary Larry Summers is leaving the board at the ChatGPT creator, just days after a series of electronic messages between him and late convicted sex offender the accused trafficker became publicly available.

The economist commented in an announcement that he was "grateful for the chance to have participated, optimistic about the promise of the company, and eagerly await tracking their development".

Summers, who once presided over Harvard University, declared on Monday that he would be withdrawing from public responsibilities due to his connections with the convicted sex offender.

Email Communications

The recently released emails revealed that the official corresponded with the financier until the 24 hours preceding the financier's 2019 detention for accused trafficking of minors.

In another announcement, the AI firm expressed it understood his decision to step down.

"We appreciate his significant contributions and the viewpoint he provided to the Board," the organization remarked.

Congressional Action

This news arrives after both chambers of the legislative branch agreed on this week to endorse a bill that would mandate the Department of Justice to make public its files on Jeffrey Epstein.

The measure will then head to the office of US President Donald Trump for approval. He has stated he plans to sign the measure, after changing his position on the matter following pressure from his supporters.

Email Contents

A group of financier-linked correspondence disclosed by the legislative panel recently included multiple well-known personalities in the billionaire's former circle, without indicating any illegal behavior by those individuals.

The messages revealed that Summers and the financier regularly had dinners together, with he often seeking to connect the official to notable international personalities.

Personal Response

After the correspondence were shared with the public, Summers said he accepted "total ownership for my misguided decision to maintain communicating with Mr Epstein".

He further stated that he hoped "to rebuild faith and repair bonds with the individuals closest to me".

Career Background

The professor occupied high-level positions under party leaders; functioning as treasury secretary under the former president, and as leader of the White House economic team under the former leader.

He presided over Harvard from 2001 to 2006 and is still a professor there. When stating his step-down from public roles previously on this week, he said he would persist with his educational duties.

Additional Consequences

Following his announcement on earlier this week, the Center for American Progress, a progressive research organization in Washington where he was a researcher, announced that he was ceased to be associated with the institution.

The former official became part of the leadership of OpenAI, which creates ChatGPT, in 2023 - following a defeated move to remove its top executive Sam Altman.