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Ex-Treasury chief Lawrence Summers is exiting the board at the ChatGPT creator, just a week after a collection of electronic messages between him and late convicted sex offender the disgraced billionaire became publicly available.

Summers commented in a statement that he was "thankful for the opportunity to have participated, optimistic about the prospects of the organization, and look forward tracking their development".

Summers, who formerly presided over Harvard University, stated on earlier this week that he would be scaling back from public roles due to his association with Epstein.

Digital Correspondence

The recently released communications demonstrated that the official communicated with Epstein until the eve of the financier's 2019 detention for suspected human trafficking of underage individuals.

In another announcement, the artificial intelligence company said it accepted Summers' determination to step down.

"We acknowledge his many contributions and the insight he offered to the governing body," the organization remarked.

Legislative Background

This announcement comes after the two houses of Congress decided on recently to pass a bill that would mandate the Department of Justice to disclose its files on Epstein.

The measure will then head to the desk of US President Donald Trump for approval. He has stated he intends to endorse the measure, after reversing his position on the issue following pushback from his followers.

Message Details

A batch of financier-linked correspondence released by the legislative panel recently referenced multiple well-known personalities in the billionaire's past associates, without indicating any illegal behavior by those people.

The emails showed that the professor and Jeffrey Epstein dined together frequently, with the billionaire often attempting to link the official to influential world leaders.

Personal Response

After the correspondence were released with the wider community, the former official stated he accepted "total ownership for my poor choice to continue communicating with the financier".

He added that he desired "to reestablish confidence and repair relationships with the people closest to me".

Previous Positions

The professor held senior posts under party leaders; serving as economic leader under President Clinton, and as head of the National Economic Council under Barack Obama.

He presided over the institution from 2001 to 2006 and remains a faculty member there. When announcing his departure from public commitments earlier on Monday, he stated he would continue his educational duties.

Further Repercussions

Following Summers' declaration on Monday, the Washington think tank, a progressive policy institute in DC where he was a prominent member, announced that the economist was not connected with the group.

He joined the board of the technology firm, which develops the language model, in last year - following a unsuccessful effort to oust its CEO Sam Altman.