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Former US treasury secretary Larry Summers is leaving the governing body at OpenAI, just days after a batch of electronic messages between him and deceased financier the disgraced billionaire became publicly available.

The economist commented in a release that he was "thankful for the chance to have served, enthusiastic about the prospects of the enterprise, and eagerly await observing 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 association with the convicted sex offender.

Digital Correspondence

The recently released messages demonstrated that the economist corresponded with the financier until the 24 hours preceding the financier's 2019 detention for suspected human trafficking of minors.

In another announcement, the technology organization stated it understood his decision to step down.

"We appreciate his many contributions and the viewpoint he provided to the Board," the company stated.

Political Context

This news arrives after both chambers of the US legislature voted on Tuesday to endorse a bill that would mandate the US justice department to make public its files on Jeffrey Epstein.

The bill will afterward move to the desk of US President Donald Trump for approval. The President has said he expects to sign the bill, after reversing his position on the matter following pushback from his base.

Correspondence Findings

A collection of Epstein-related correspondence made public by the Congressional committee recently referenced numerous prominent individuals in the Epstein's previous network, without implying any legal wrongdoing by those people.

The communications showed that the economist and the financier regularly had dinners together, with Epstein often trying to connect the official to prominent world leaders.

Personal Response

After the emails were made available with the wider community, the former official said he assumed "full responsibility for my misguided choice to maintain corresponding with Mr Epstein".

He further stated that he hoped "to rebuild confidence and repair connections with the people most important to me".

Career Background

The economist occupied leadership roles under two Democratic presidents; functioning as treasury secretary under the former president, and as director of the National Economic Council under Barack Obama.

He led Harvard from five years and is still a academic there. When stating his withdrawal from public roles earlier on Monday, he said he would maintain his academic responsibilities.

Other Impacts

Following his announcement on Monday, the policy organization, a liberal policy institute in DC where he was a senior fellow, confirmed that Summers was ceased to be affiliated with the organization.

The former official entered the directorate of the AI company, which creates the AI chatbot, in the previous year - following a unsuccessful effort to remove its top executive the company leader.