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Ex-Treasury chief the Harvard professor is leaving the directorate at OpenAI, just a week after a batch of digital correspondence between him and deceased financier Jeffrey Epstein became public.

He remarked in a statement that he was "appreciative for the opportunity to have contributed, enthusiastic about the promise of the company, and eagerly await following their progress".

Summers, who once headed Harvard University, announced on earlier this week that he would be stepping back from public commitments due to his association with Epstein.

Email Communications

The recently released emails revealed that the official communicated with Jeffrey Epstein until the 24 hours preceding the financier's 2019 arrest for accused sex trafficking of minors.

In additional comments, the AI firm stated it understood the economist's decision to step down.

"We value his many contributions and the viewpoint he brought to the Board," the company commented.

Political Context

This news comes after both chambers of the US legislature decided on recently to endorse a bill that would mandate the Department of Justice to disclose its files on the case.

The measure will subsequently head to the desk of President Trump for endorsement. Trump has stated he expects to approve the bill, after modifying his position on the matter following objections from his supporters.

Message Details

A collection of financier-linked messages made public by the House Oversight Committee last week mentioned numerous prominent individuals in the billionaire's former circle, without indicating any illegal behavior by those people.

The messages indicated that the professor and Jeffrey Epstein regularly had dinners together, with Epstein often trying to introduce Summers to notable world leaders.

Personal Accountability

After the messages were made available with the general audience, he expressed he took "complete accountability for my poor decision to continue communicating with Mr Epstein".

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

Previous Positions

Summers served in high-level positions under Democratic administrations; functioning as treasury secretary under Bill Clinton, and as head of the White House economic team under the former leader.

He led the institution from the early 2000s and is still a faculty member there. When declaring his withdrawal from public duties previously on Monday, he said he would continue his teaching commitments.

Further Repercussions

Following the economist's declaration on earlier this week, the Center for American Progress, a liberal research organization in the capital where Summers was a researcher, confirmed that Summers was no longer associated with the group.

Summers entered the directorate of the technology firm, which makes ChatGPT, in 2023 - following a failed attempt to remove its CEO OpenAI's head.