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Former US treasury secretary Lawrence Summers is exiting the board at the ChatGPT creator, just a week after a batch of emails between him and late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein became public.

The economist remarked in a statement that he was "grateful for the opportunity to have contributed, optimistic about the prospects of the organization, and look forward following their development".

The prominent academic, who once led the prestigious university, announced on recently that he would be withdrawing from public commitments due to his relationship with the convicted sex offender.

Message Exchange

The recently released emails showed that Summers communicated with the financier until the day before Epstein's 2019 apprehension for suspected human trafficking of young people.

In another announcement, the technology organization expressed it understood the economist's choice to depart.

"We appreciate his many contributions and the insight he provided to the governing body," the organization commented.

Political Context

This news arrives after the two houses of the US legislature agreed on recently to endorse a legislation that would compel the US justice department to release its records on Jeffrey Epstein.

The measure will afterward head to the desk of the White House for signature. He has said he plans to sign the bill, after changing his view on the matter following objections from his supporters.

Message Details

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

The messages showed that the professor and Jeffrey Epstein often met for meals, with he often trying to link Summers to prominent global figures.

Personal Accountability

After the emails were shared with the public, the former official said he accepted "full responsibility for my misguided judgment to maintain corresponding with the financier".

He further stated that he wanted "to reestablish trust and mend bonds with the individuals closest to me".

Professional History

The economist served in leadership roles under party leaders; acting as Treasury chief under Bill Clinton, and as director of the National Economic Council under Barack Obama.

He presided over the institution from 2001 to 2006 and is still a academic there. When stating his withdrawal from public commitments recently on Monday, he indicated he would maintain his educational duties.

Further Repercussions

Following his statement on Monday, the Washington think tank, a progressive think tank in the capital where the professor was a researcher, confirmed that the economist was ceased to be associated with the group.

He joined the directorate of the AI company, which develops ChatGPT, in 2023 - following a defeated move to remove its chief executive OpenAI's head.