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Ex-Treasury chief Larry Summers is departing from the directorate at OpenAI, just several days after a batch of emails between him and notorious criminal the disgraced billionaire became public.

The economist remarked in a statement that he was "grateful for the opportunity to have contributed, enthusiastic about the prospects of the organization, and eagerly await tracking their advancement".

The prominent academic, who formerly headed Harvard University, declared on recently that he would be withdrawing from public responsibilities due to his association with Jeffrey Epstein.

Digital Correspondence

The freshly disclosed emails demonstrated that Summers communicated with Epstein until the 24 hours preceding his 2019 apprehension for alleged human trafficking of minors.

In another announcement, the AI firm said it understood the economist's choice to resign.

"We appreciate his significant contributions and the insight he offered to the Board," the company stated.

Political Context

This news follows after both chambers of the legislative branch voted on this week to pass a measure that would require the US justice department to make public its files on the case.

The legislation will then move to the office of President Trump for signature. The President has indicated he expects to sign the bill, after modifying his position on the issue following objections from his followers.

Message Details

A collection of Epstein-connected correspondence made public by the Congressional committee days ago mentioned multiple prominent individuals in the Epstein's past associates, without indicating any criminal activity by those figures.

The messages indicated that the economist and Jeffrey Epstein regularly had dinners together, with Epstein often seeking to connect the official to notable global figures.

Personal Response

After the correspondence were released with the public, Summers expressed he accepted "complete accountability for my ill-advised choice to continue corresponding with Jeffrey Epstein".

He continued that he hoped "to restore trust and fix connections with the people most important to me".

Previous Positions

Summers served in senior posts under two Democratic presidents; serving as treasury secretary under the former president, and as director of the White House economic team under President Obama.

He led Harvard from the early 2000s and continues to be a faculty member there. When declaring his withdrawal from public commitments previously on this week, he indicated he would persist with his teaching commitments.

Other Impacts

Following Summers' declaration on Monday, the policy organization, a left-leaning research organization in Washington where he was a senior fellow, verified that he was ceased to be associated with the organization.

Summers joined the leadership of the AI company, which makes the AI chatbot, in last year - following a defeated move to oust its chief executive Sam Altman.