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One-time economic leader Lawrence Summers is leaving 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 widely known.

Summers stated in an announcement that he was "appreciative for the opportunity to have contributed, optimistic about the potential of the organization, and anticipate following their development".

The former Harvard president, who previously headed the Ivy League institution, stated on earlier this week that he would be stepping back from public roles due to his connections with Epstein.

Message Exchange

The freshly disclosed messages demonstrated that the economist exchanged messages with Jeffrey Epstein until the day before the financier's 2019 arrest for suspected trafficking of underage individuals.

In another announcement, the technology organization said it understood Summers' choice to step down.

"We acknowledge his numerous inputs and the viewpoint he brought to the directors," OpenAI commented.

Political Context

This announcement follows after the entire Congress of the legislative branch agreed on Tuesday to endorse a measure that would compel the Department of Justice to make public its records on Jeffrey Epstein.

The measure will subsequently proceed to the desk of the White House for endorsement. Trump has stated he plans to sign the measure, after modifying his view on the issue following pressure from his base.

Message Details

A batch of Epstein-related messages made public by the legislative panel last week included several well-known personalities in the Epstein's previous network, without implying any criminal activity by those individuals.

The communications revealed that Summers and Epstein often met for meals, with the billionaire often attempting to link the official to notable international personalities.

Personal Response

After the emails were shared with the general audience, Summers said he took "full responsibility for my poor decision to continue interacting with Mr Epstein".

He continued that he desired "to rebuild faith and fix bonds with the people closest to me".

Previous Positions

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

He headed Harvard from 2001 to 2006 and is still a professor there. When stating his withdrawal from public duties earlier on this week, he stated he would maintain his educational duties.

Other Impacts

Following the economist's announcement on earlier this week, the Washington think tank, a progressive policy institute in Washington where Summers was a researcher, announced that he was no longer associated with the institution.

He became part of the board of the AI company, which creates the AI chatbot, in last year - following a defeated move to oust its chief executive Sam Altman.