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Ex-Treasury chief the Harvard professor is departing from the board at OpenAI, just several days after a series of emails between him and notorious criminal Jeffrey Epstein became publicly available.

He commented in a release that he was "grateful for the opportunity to have served, enthusiastic about the prospects of the enterprise, and look forward following their advancement".

The former Harvard president, who once led Harvard University, declared on Monday that he would be scaling back from public responsibilities due to his connections with Epstein.

Message Exchange

The recently released messages revealed that the economist corresponded with Jeffrey Epstein until the eve of Epstein's 2019 detention for suspected human trafficking of underage individuals.

In another announcement, the artificial intelligence company said it accepted the economist's decision to step down.

"We appreciate his significant contributions and the perspective he offered to the Board," the company stated.

Political Context

This announcement comes after both chambers of the legislative branch voted on recently to pass a legislation that would compel the US justice department to release its documents on Epstein.

The measure will afterward move to the office of the White House for signature. The President has said he expects to approve the measure, after changing his stance on the matter following pushback from his supporters.

Email Contents

A batch of Epstein-connected correspondence released by the House Oversight Committee days ago mentioned multiple prominent individuals in the Epstein's former circle, without implying any legal wrongdoing by those people.

The communications revealed that the professor and Jeffrey Epstein regularly had dinners together, with Epstein often trying to link the official to notable global figures.

Personal Accountability

After the messages were released with the general audience, Summers said he assumed "complete accountability for my misguided choice to maintain communicating with Mr Epstein".

He continued that he desired "to rebuild confidence and mend bonds with the persons nearest to me".

Professional History

The professor held high-level positions under party leaders; serving as economic leader under President Clinton, and as leader of the economic advisory body under Barack Obama.

He presided over Harvard from the early 2000s and is still a professor there. When stating his step-down from public duties recently on Monday, he indicated he would continue his academic responsibilities.

Other Impacts

Following the economist's declaration on Monday, the Washington think tank, a liberal think tank in the capital where he was a senior fellow, announced that the economist was not associated with the organization.

Summers joined the leadership of the AI company, which makes ChatGPT, in 2023 - following a unsuccessful effort to oust its top executive Sam Altman.