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One-time economic leader Lawrence Summers is departing from the board at OpenAI, just a week after a batch of electronic messages between him and late convicted sex offender the accused trafficker became public.

Summers stated in an announcement that he was "appreciative for the chance to have participated, optimistic about the prospects of the company, and anticipate following their progress".

The former Harvard president, who formerly led the prestigious university, announced on earlier this week that he would be scaling back from public responsibilities due to his association with Epstein.

Digital Correspondence

The newly public messages demonstrated that Summers exchanged messages with Epstein until the 24 hours preceding his 2019 arrest for alleged sex trafficking of young people.

In a separate statement, the artificial intelligence company said it accepted the economist's determination to depart.

"We appreciate his many contributions and the insight he brought to the governing body," OpenAI commented.

Legislative Background

This news follows after both chambers of the legislative branch agreed on this week to endorse a legislation that would mandate the federal prosecutors to release its documents on the case.

The bill will then move to the administration of US President Donald Trump for approval. The President has said he expects to approve the bill, after changing his view on the subject following objections from his followers.

Correspondence Findings

A batch of Epstein-connected correspondence made public by the legislative panel days ago mentioned several high-profile figures in the financier's former circle, without indicating any illegal behavior by those figures.

The messages indicated that the economist and the financier dined together frequently, with the billionaire often trying to link the official to prominent international personalities.

Personal Response

After the messages were shared with the public, the former official stated he accepted "full responsibility for my poor judgment to maintain corresponding with Jeffrey Epstein".

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

Professional History

The economist served in leadership roles under party leaders; serving as Treasury chief under the former president, and as head of the economic advisory body under President Obama.

He led Harvard from 2001 to 2006 and remains a academic there. When announcing his step-down from public commitments earlier on this week, he indicated he would maintain his teaching commitments.

Further Repercussions

Following the economist's statement on Monday, the Center for American Progress, a progressive policy institute in Washington where he was a senior fellow, verified that the economist was ceased to be associated with the institution.

Summers became part of the board of the AI company, which creates ChatGPT, in 2023 - following a defeated move to oust its top executive OpenAI's head.