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One-time economic leader Lawrence Summers is leaving the board at the ChatGPT creator, just a week after a batch of emails between him and late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein became publicly available.

Summers stated in a statement that he was "grateful for the chance to have participated, enthusiastic about the prospects of the enterprise, and eagerly await observing their progress".

The former Harvard president, who once presided over Harvard University, announced on recently that he would be stepping back from public responsibilities due to his relationship with Epstein.

Digital Correspondence

The freshly disclosed messages revealed that the official communicated with the financier until the eve of the financier's 2019 apprehension for accused sex trafficking of underage individuals.

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

"We value his many contributions and the insight he provided to the Board," the company stated.

Congressional Action

This announcement comes after both chambers of the legislative branch decided on Tuesday to endorse a legislation that would compel the federal prosecutors to make public its documents on Epstein.

The legislation will afterward head to the administration of US President Donald Trump for approval. The President has stated he plans to endorse the bill, after reversing his position on the issue following pushback from his supporters.

Correspondence Findings

A group of Epstein-connected messages released by the House Oversight Committee last week included several prominent individuals in the billionaire's former circle, without indicating any legal wrongdoing by those people.

The communications showed that the economist and the financier dined together frequently, with the billionaire often seeking to connect the academic to notable world leaders.

Individual Statement

After the correspondence were made available with the wider community, the former official said he took "complete accountability for my ill-advised judgment to maintain interacting with the financier".

He further stated that he wanted "to reestablish trust and fix connections with the individuals nearest to me".

Professional History

Summers occupied senior posts under party leaders; acting as treasury secretary under the former president, and as head of the National Economic Council under President Obama.

He headed Harvard from 2001 to 2006 and continues to be a professor there. When stating his departure from public commitments recently on this week, he stated he would continue his educational duties.

Additional Consequences

Following the economist's announcement on earlier this week, the Center for American Progress, a progressive research organization in Washington where the professor was a senior fellow, announced that the economist was ceased to be connected with the organization.

The former official became part of the directorate of OpenAI, which creates the language model, in the previous year - following a unsuccessful effort to replace its CEO OpenAI's head.