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Former US treasury secretary Larry Summers is leaving the governing body at OpenAI, just days after a collection of electronic messages between him and notorious criminal Jeffrey Epstein became widely known.

Summers remarked in an announcement that he was "thankful for the opportunity to have participated, enthusiastic about the potential of the organization, and look forward tracking their advancement".

The prominent academic, who formerly led Harvard University, announced on recently that he would be withdrawing from public commitments due to his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.

Message Exchange

The freshly disclosed messages demonstrated that the official corresponded with Epstein until the eve of Epstein's 2019 detention for accused human trafficking of underage individuals.

In additional comments, the technology organization stated it understood his decision to step down.

"We appreciate his many contributions and the viewpoint he provided to the directors," the organization stated.

Political Context

This announcement comes after the two houses of Congress agreed on recently to approve a measure that would compel the federal prosecutors to release its files on Jeffrey Epstein.

The measure will subsequently proceed to the office of US President Donald Trump for signature. Trump has indicated he intends to sign the legislation, after changing his position on the matter following pressure from his supporters.

Email Contents

A batch of Epstein-connected messages made public by the House Oversight Committee last week included multiple high-profile figures in the financier's former circle, without indicating any legal wrongdoing by those people.

The communications indicated that the economist and Epstein dined together frequently, with Epstein often trying to link Summers to prominent world leaders.

Individual Statement

After the messages were released with the general audience, the former official said he took "complete accountability for my ill-advised judgment to maintain corresponding with Jeffrey Epstein".

He added that he desired "to rebuild confidence and repair connections with the individuals nearest to me".

Professional History

Summers served in leadership roles under Democratic administrations; acting as Treasury chief under Bill Clinton, and as head of the White House economic team under the former leader.

He headed the university from the early 2000s and is still a professor there. When announcing his step-down from public roles recently on Monday, he said he would continue his academic responsibilities.

Additional Consequences

Following Summers' announcement on Monday, the Washington think tank, a liberal research organization in Washington where the professor was a researcher, confirmed that he was ceased to be affiliated with the group.

He entered the board of OpenAI, which makes the language model, in last year - following a failed attempt to replace its top executive Sam Altman.