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One-time economic leader the Harvard professor is leaving the governing body at OpenAI, just a week after a batch of digital correspondence between him and notorious criminal the accused trafficker became publicly available.

Summers remarked in a statement that he was "grateful for the privilege to have served, excited about the promise of the enterprise, and eagerly await tracking their development".

The prominent academic, who previously led the Ivy League institution, declared on earlier this week that he would be scaling back from public responsibilities due to his connections with the convicted sex offender.

Message Exchange

The recently released communications demonstrated that Summers corresponded with Jeffrey Epstein until the eve of the financier's 2019 arrest for alleged human trafficking of young people.

In another announcement, the AI firm stated it accepted the economist's determination to step down.

"We value his significant contributions and the viewpoint he provided to the directors," OpenAI stated.

Congressional Action

This news follows after the two houses of the legislative branch decided on this week to approve a measure that would mandate the Department of Justice to disclose its records on the case.

The measure will subsequently proceed to the desk of President Trump for endorsement. He has said he plans to approve the measure, after reversing his view on the matter following pressure from his supporters.

Correspondence Findings

A group of Epstein-related correspondence released by the legislative panel recently mentioned numerous high-profile figures in the financier's previous network, without suggesting any legal wrongdoing by those people.

The messages indicated that Summers and Jeffrey Epstein often met for meals, with he often seeking to link Summers to influential world leaders.

Personal Response

After the emails were made available with the wider community, the former official said he took "total ownership for my ill-advised choice to persist in corresponding with Mr Epstein".

He further stated that he desired "to restore confidence and fix relationships with the persons nearest to me".

Career Background

The professor occupied leadership roles under two Democratic presidents; acting as Treasury chief under Bill Clinton, and as leader of the economic advisory body under the former leader.

He presided over Harvard from the early 2000s and continues to be a professor there. When announcing his step-down from public roles previously on Monday, he indicated he would persist with his educational duties.

Additional Consequences

Following his declaration on earlier this week, the policy organization, a liberal policy institute in the capital where the professor was a researcher, verified that he was no longer affiliated with the organization.

The former official joined the board of the technology firm, which creates the language model, in the previous year - following a unsuccessful effort to oust its top executive OpenAI's head.