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Former US treasury secretary Lawrence Summers is departing from the governing body at the artificial intelligence firm, just a week after a collection of electronic messages between him and late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein became public.

Summers commented in an announcement that he was "grateful for the privilege to have participated, enthusiastic about the promise of the company, and look forward observing their advancement".

The prominent academic, who previously headed the Ivy League institution, declared on earlier this week that he would be stepping back from public responsibilities due to his connections with Jeffrey Epstein.

Email Communications

The newly public communications revealed that the official corresponded with the financier until the eve of the financier's 2019 arrest for suspected sex trafficking of young people.

In additional comments, the AI firm expressed it respected the economist's decision to resign.

"We acknowledge his numerous inputs and the viewpoint he brought to the Board," the company stated.

Political Context

This announcement comes after the entire Congress of the US legislature agreed on this week to approve a legislation that would compel the federal prosecutors to disclose its records on Jeffrey Epstein.

The legislation will then head to the office of President Trump for approval. The President has stated he intends to approve the bill, after reversing his view on the issue following pressure from his followers.

Message Details

A batch of Epstein-connected messages made public by the legislative panel last week mentioned several well-known personalities in the Epstein's past associates, without suggesting any illegal behavior by those people.

The emails revealed that Summers and Jeffrey Epstein regularly had dinners together, with Epstein often seeking to connect Summers to notable international personalities.

Personal Accountability

After the correspondence were made available with the wider community, Summers expressed he accepted "complete accountability for my misguided judgment to persist in communicating with the financier".

He added that he desired "to restore trust and fix connections with the individuals nearest to me".

Previous Positions

The economist held leadership roles under two Democratic presidents; serving as treasury secretary under the former president, and as leader of the economic advisory body under Barack Obama.

He led the institution from five years and continues to be a faculty member there. When announcing his departure from public roles recently on this week, he said he would continue his educational duties.

Further Repercussions

Following Summers' declaration on Monday, the Washington think tank, a liberal think tank in the capital where the professor was a prominent member, verified that Summers was not associated with the organization.

The former official joined the board of OpenAI, which creates the language model, in 2023 - following a unsuccessful effort to oust its CEO the company leader.