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Former US treasury secretary Lawrence Summers is leaving the governing body at the ChatGPT creator, just days after a batch of emails between him and late convicted sex offender the accused trafficker became widely known.

The economist commented in a statement that he was "thankful for the privilege to have served, optimistic about the promise of the company, and anticipate observing their development".

The prominent academic, who formerly presided over the prestigious university, stated on Monday that he would be withdrawing from public responsibilities due to his connections with the convicted sex offender.

Digital Correspondence

The recently released communications demonstrated that the official communicated with Jeffrey Epstein until the eve of Epstein's 2019 apprehension for alleged human trafficking of underage individuals.

In additional comments, the artificial intelligence company stated it respected his determination to step down.

"We appreciate his significant contributions and the perspective he offered to the Board," the organization commented.

Political Context

This news follows after the two houses of the US legislature agreed on Tuesday to endorse a bill that would mandate the Department of Justice to release its records on Epstein.

The measure will then move to the administration of US President Donald Trump for endorsement. Trump has said he plans to approve the legislation, after modifying his position on the matter following pressure from his followers.

Email Contents

A batch of Epstein-related correspondence made public by the House Oversight Committee recently included several well-known personalities in the financier's past associates, without implying any illegal behavior by those figures.

The emails showed that the economist and Jeffrey Epstein often met for meals, with the billionaire often trying to link the official to prominent global figures.

Individual Statement

After the correspondence were shared with the general audience, he expressed he accepted "total ownership for my misguided judgment to continue communicating with Mr Epstein".

He added that he hoped "to rebuild faith and repair relationships with the persons closest to me".

Previous Positions

The economist held high-level positions under party leaders; serving as economic leader under the former president, and as leader of the National Economic Council under Barack Obama.

He presided over Harvard from the early 2000s and is still a professor there. When stating his step-down from public commitments recently on Monday, he said he would persist with his academic responsibilities.

Other Impacts

Following Summers' announcement on earlier this week, the Center for American Progress, a left-leaning research organization in Washington where the professor was a researcher, announced that he was no longer affiliated with the organization.

The former official joined the leadership of the AI company, which develops the AI chatbot, in the previous year - following a defeated move to oust its chief executive the company leader.