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Former US treasury secretary Lawrence Summers is exiting the board at OpenAI, just a week after a series of digital correspondence between him and notorious criminal Jeffrey Epstein became widely known.

The economist remarked in an announcement that he was "appreciative for the opportunity to have served, excited about the prospects of the enterprise, and look forward observing their progress".

The former Harvard president, who once led Harvard University, declared on recently that he would be scaling back from public commitments due to his relationship with the convicted sex offender.

Digital Correspondence

The freshly disclosed communications demonstrated that the economist corresponded with Jeffrey Epstein until the 24 hours preceding the financier's 2019 detention for alleged trafficking of minors.

In a separate statement, the technology organization expressed it understood the economist's decision to step down.

"We acknowledge his many contributions and the insight he provided to the Board," the company commented.

Legislative Background

This announcement arrives after the entire Congress of the legislative branch agreed on recently to approve a bill that would mandate the US justice department to make public its records on Epstein.

The legislation will afterward head to the office of US President Donald Trump for endorsement. He has indicated he intends to endorse the measure, after reversing his view on the matter following objections from his supporters.

Message Details

A batch of Epstein-related correspondence made public by the legislative panel recently included numerous well-known personalities in the Epstein's previous network, without indicating any legal wrongdoing by those people.

The communications revealed that the professor and Jeffrey Epstein often met for meals, with the billionaire often trying to link the official to notable global figures.

Personal Accountability

After the emails were released with the general audience, the former official stated he assumed "complete accountability for my ill-advised judgment to persist in communicating with the financier".

He added that he hoped "to restore confidence and mend relationships with the individuals closest to me".

Professional History

The economist occupied senior posts under party leaders; acting as treasury secretary under President Clinton, and as head of the White House economic team under the former leader.

He headed the university from the early 2000s and is still a faculty member there. When announcing his departure from public roles previously on this week, he indicated he would persist with his teaching commitments.

Further Repercussions

Following his statement on earlier this week, the Washington think tank, a progressive research organization in DC where the professor was a researcher, verified that he was ceased to be affiliated with the organization.

Summers entered the directorate of the AI company, which develops the AI chatbot, in last year - following a failed attempt to remove its chief executive OpenAI's head.