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Former US treasury secretary Lawrence Summers is leaving the board at the ChatGPT creator, just several days after a series of electronic messages between him and notorious criminal Jeffrey Epstein became public.

The economist remarked in a release that he was "grateful for the opportunity to have contributed, enthusiastic about the potential of the enterprise, and anticipate observing their progress".

The former Harvard president, who previously presided over the prestigious university, stated on Monday that he would be withdrawing from public commitments due to his relationship with Epstein.

Message Exchange

The freshly disclosed communications demonstrated that Summers communicated with Jeffrey Epstein until the 24 hours preceding Epstein's 2019 apprehension for suspected sex trafficking of minors.

In another announcement, the artificial intelligence company said it accepted Summers' determination to depart.

"We acknowledge his numerous inputs and the perspective he offered to the Board," OpenAI commented.

Legislative Background

This development follows after the two houses of Congress decided on recently to endorse a measure that would mandate the federal prosecutors to make public its records on Epstein.

The bill will then proceed to the office of US President Donald Trump for approval. He has said he expects to sign the bill, after changing his position on the matter following objections from his followers.

Message Details

A group of Epstein-connected messages disclosed by the House Oversight Committee recently referenced multiple prominent individuals in the Epstein's previous network, without suggesting any legal wrongdoing by those figures.

The communications showed that the professor and the financier dined together frequently, with the billionaire often trying to introduce the official to notable international personalities.

Personal Response

After the correspondence were made available with the wider community, the former official expressed he assumed "complete accountability for my misguided judgment to continue interacting with the financier".

He continued that he hoped "to restore faith and fix bonds with the persons nearest to me".

Professional History

The professor held leadership roles under two Democratic presidents; serving as Treasury chief under President Clinton, and as director of the National Economic Council under the former leader.

He headed the university from the early 2000s and continues to be a faculty member there. When stating his step-down from public duties previously on Monday, he said he would continue his academic responsibilities.

Other Impacts

Following his announcement on earlier this week, the policy organization, a progressive research organization in Washington where Summers was a researcher, announced that the economist was no longer connected with the organization.

He joined the leadership of OpenAI, which develops ChatGPT, in the previous year - following a unsuccessful effort to replace its CEO OpenAI's head.