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Former US treasury secretary the Harvard professor is departing from the board at the artificial intelligence firm, just several days after a batch of emails between him and late convicted sex offender the accused trafficker became widely known.

Summers remarked in a release that he was "grateful for the privilege to have served, optimistic about the promise of the enterprise, and look forward tracking their development".

The former Harvard president, who once headed the prestigious university, stated on earlier this week that he would be scaling back from public roles due to his association with Epstein.

Digital Correspondence

The recently released messages showed that the economist communicated with the financier until the eve of the financier's 2019 arrest for suspected human trafficking of underage individuals.

In a separate statement, the artificial intelligence company expressed it respected the economist's decision to step down.

"We appreciate his many contributions and the insight he offered to the Board," the company remarked.

Political Context

This announcement follows after both chambers of the legislative branch agreed on this week to pass a legislation that would compel the US justice department to release its documents on Jeffrey Epstein.

The bill will subsequently proceed to the administration of the White House for signature. He has said he expects to sign the legislation, after reversing his position on the subject following objections from his followers.

Message Details

A batch of Epstein-connected messages released by the Congressional committee recently referenced multiple high-profile figures in the billionaire's previous network, without indicating any legal wrongdoing by those people.

The messages showed that Summers and the financier regularly had dinners together, with the billionaire often attempting to connect Summers to notable world leaders.

Personal Response

After the emails were released with the general audience, he said he accepted "total ownership for my poor decision to continue corresponding with Mr Epstein".

He added that he hoped "to rebuild trust and repair connections with the individuals nearest to me".

Previous Positions

The economist served in leadership roles under Democratic administrations; acting as economic leader under the former president, and as director of the National Economic Council under the former leader.

He led Harvard from five years and is still a academic there. When stating his departure from public roles previously on Monday, he indicated he would persist with his teaching commitments.

Further Repercussions

Following Summers' announcement on Monday, the policy organization, a left-leaning research organization in Washington where the professor was a senior fellow, confirmed that the economist was ceased to be connected with the institution.

He became part of the board of the technology firm, which develops the language model, in the previous year - following a defeated move to replace its top executive Sam Altman.