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Ex-Treasury chief the Harvard professor is exiting the board at the ChatGPT creator, just a week after a batch of electronic messages between him and late convicted sex offender the disgraced billionaire became public.

Summers remarked in a statement that he was "appreciative for the privilege to have participated, optimistic about the prospects of the organization, and look forward observing their progress".

The prominent academic, who formerly led the prestigious university, stated on Monday that he would be scaling back from public commitments due to his association with the convicted sex offender.

Digital Correspondence

The freshly disclosed communications demonstrated that the economist exchanged messages with the financier until the day before Epstein's 2019 apprehension for alleged sex trafficking of minors.

In a separate statement, the technology organization expressed it accepted his determination to step down.

"We value his significant contributions and the viewpoint he offered to the Board," the organization commented.

Legislative Background

This development comes after the two houses of the US legislature agreed on recently to approve a measure that would mandate the federal prosecutors to disclose its records on the case.

The measure will afterward move to the desk of the White House for endorsement. The President has stated he expects to sign the bill, after reversing his stance on the subject following objections from his base.

Correspondence Findings

A collection of Epstein-connected correspondence made public by the legislative panel last week included multiple well-known personalities in the billionaire's previous network, without implying any criminal activity by those figures.

The messages revealed that the professor and Jeffrey Epstein regularly had dinners together, with Epstein often trying to connect the official to notable global figures.

Personal Accountability

After the messages were released with the public, the former official stated he took "complete accountability for my ill-advised decision to continue interacting with Mr Epstein".

He continued that he wanted "to restore faith and repair connections with the persons closest to me".

Professional History

The professor served in senior posts under two Democratic presidents; serving as Treasury chief under Bill Clinton, and as director of the economic advisory body under President Obama.

He presided over the university from 2001 to 2006 and continues to be a academic there. When stating his departure from public duties recently on this week, he indicated he would maintain his academic responsibilities.

Further Repercussions

Following his announcement on Monday, the Center for American Progress, a left-leaning think tank in the capital where Summers was a senior fellow, announced that he was not connected with the organization.

He joined the leadership of the AI company, which creates ChatGPT, in 2023 - following a defeated move to remove its CEO the company leader.