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Ex-Treasury chief Larry Summers is departing from the directorate at OpenAI, just several days after a series of digital correspondence between him and notorious criminal the accused trafficker became publicly available.

He commented in an announcement that he was "grateful for the privilege to have served, optimistic about the promise of the organization, and look forward following their progress".

The former Harvard president, who previously headed the prestigious university, declared on Monday that he would be withdrawing from public commitments due to his connections with the convicted sex offender.

Digital Correspondence

The newly public messages demonstrated that the official exchanged messages with Epstein until the eve of his 2019 arrest for suspected sex trafficking of young people.

In another announcement, the AI firm stated it understood Summers' choice to depart.

"We appreciate his many contributions and the viewpoint he offered to the governing body," the company commented.

Congressional Action

This development follows after the two houses of the US legislature voted on this week to approve a measure that would require the Department of Justice to release its files on Epstein.

The legislation will subsequently head to the desk of President Trump for approval. The President has said he expects to sign the measure, after reversing his position on the subject following pressure from his base.

Correspondence Findings

A batch of Epstein-connected correspondence made public by the Congressional committee recently included multiple high-profile figures in the financier's former circle, without implying any illegal behavior by those people.

The emails showed that the professor and Jeffrey Epstein often met for meals, with he often attempting to introduce Summers to prominent global figures.

Individual Statement

After the correspondence were shared with the wider community, Summers said he took "full responsibility for my poor decision to continue interacting with the financier".

He continued that he wanted "to reestablish trust and repair connections with the people nearest to me".

Previous Positions

The professor occupied senior posts under party leaders; serving as economic leader under President Clinton, and as director of the economic advisory body under Barack Obama.

He headed Harvard from five years and remains a professor there. When declaring his step-down from public commitments previously on this week, he said he would maintain his academic responsibilities.

Additional Consequences

Following his statement on Monday, the Washington think tank, a left-leaning research organization in the capital where the professor was a researcher, announced that Summers was not associated with the group.

The former official entered the board of the technology firm, which creates the AI chatbot, in 2023 - following a unsuccessful effort to oust its top executive Sam Altman.