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One-time economic leader the Harvard professor is exiting the directorate at the ChatGPT creator, just several days after a collection of electronic messages between him and late convicted sex offender the disgraced billionaire became publicly available.

He stated in a statement that he was "grateful for the chance to have contributed, excited about the promise of the enterprise, and look forward observing their development".

The prominent academic, who once led the prestigious university, announced on Monday that he would be scaling back from public roles due to his connections with the convicted sex offender.

Email Communications

The newly public messages demonstrated that the official corresponded with the financier until the 24 hours preceding his 2019 apprehension for accused sex trafficking of minors.

In a separate statement, the artificial intelligence company expressed it accepted the economist's decision to resign.

"We acknowledge his many contributions and the perspective he provided to the Board," the company remarked.

Legislative Background

This development follows after both chambers of Congress decided on this week to endorse a measure that would compel the federal prosecutors to release its records on Epstein.

The bill will subsequently proceed to the office of US President Donald Trump for signature. The President has indicated he intends to sign the measure, after modifying his position on the issue following objections from his supporters.

Message Details

A group of Epstein-connected emails made public by the Congressional committee last week mentioned numerous prominent individuals in the Epstein's previous network, without indicating any legal wrongdoing by those people.

The messages showed that Summers and Epstein dined together frequently, with he often trying to introduce the official to prominent world leaders.

Personal Accountability

After the messages were shared with the wider community, he expressed he accepted "complete accountability for my poor choice to continue communicating with Jeffrey Epstein".

He continued that he desired "to restore confidence and fix bonds with the people nearest to me".

Career Background

The economist occupied senior posts under two Democratic presidents; serving as economic leader under Bill Clinton, and as head of the economic advisory body under Barack Obama.

He led the institution from five years and remains a academic there. When declaring his withdrawal from public duties earlier on Monday, he stated he would persist with his teaching commitments.

Other Impacts

Following Summers' declaration on earlier this week, the policy organization, a progressive think tank in Washington where Summers was a researcher, confirmed that he was ceased to be affiliated with the group.

Summers entered the board of OpenAI, which develops ChatGPT, in 2023 - following a defeated move to oust its top executive OpenAI's head.