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Ex-Treasury chief the Harvard professor is leaving the board at the artificial intelligence firm, just a week after a batch of emails between him and late convicted sex offender the disgraced billionaire became widely known.

Summers remarked in a release that he was "appreciative for the privilege to have served, optimistic about the promise of the organization, and eagerly await observing their development".

Summers, who formerly led the Ivy League institution, declared on recently that he would be withdrawing from public responsibilities due to his connections with Jeffrey Epstein.

Email Communications

The recently released emails showed that Summers exchanged messages with Epstein until the day before Epstein's 2019 apprehension for accused trafficking of minors.

In additional comments, the artificial intelligence company stated it respected the economist's decision to resign.

"We appreciate his significant contributions and the viewpoint he brought to the Board," the organization remarked.

Political Context

This news follows after the entire Congress of the US legislature voted on Tuesday to endorse a legislation that would require the US justice department to make public its files on Jeffrey Epstein.

The legislation will afterward proceed to the desk of the White House for approval. He has stated he expects to endorse the legislation, after changing his view on the subject following pushback from his supporters.

Correspondence Findings

A batch of financier-linked messages disclosed by the legislative panel recently referenced numerous prominent individuals in the financier's past associates, without implying any illegal behavior by those individuals.

The messages revealed that the professor and the financier often met for meals, with he often trying to introduce the official to influential world leaders.

Personal Accountability

After the emails were shared with the general audience, Summers stated he accepted "complete accountability for my misguided choice to maintain corresponding with Jeffrey Epstein".

He further stated that he hoped "to rebuild faith and fix relationships with the persons most important to me".

Professional History

The economist occupied high-level positions under Democratic administrations; acting as Treasury chief under Bill Clinton, and as director of the economic advisory body under Barack Obama.

He headed Harvard from 2001 to 2006 and remains a professor there. When stating his withdrawal from public roles earlier on Monday, he said he would continue his educational duties.

Additional Consequences

Following the economist's announcement on earlier this week, the Washington think tank, a liberal think tank in the capital where Summers was a senior fellow, announced that he was not connected with the group.

Summers became part of the board of OpenAI, which creates the language model, in the previous year - following a failed attempt to replace its CEO Sam Altman.