đź”— Share this article Larry Summers Leaves from AI Company's Directors The former official announced he would withdraw from public duties after Congressional panel disclosed his repeated correspondence with Epstein Former US treasury secretary Larry Summers is exiting the governing body at the ChatGPT creator, just days after a series of electronic messages between him and notorious criminal the accused trafficker became widely known. He stated in a release that he was "grateful for the chance to have served, enthusiastic about the promise of the organization, and eagerly await tracking their advancement". The prominent academic, who formerly led the prestigious university, declared on Monday that he would be withdrawing from public responsibilities due to his association with Epstein. Email Communications The recently released emails showed that Summers corresponded with Jeffrey Epstein until the day before the financier's 2019 arrest for accused trafficking of minors. In a separate statement, the AI firm said it respected Summers' determination to step down. "We appreciate his many contributions and the viewpoint he brought to the Board," OpenAI remarked. Congressional Action This news follows after the two houses of the legislative branch decided on Tuesday to pass a legislation that would require the US justice department to release its documents on Epstein. The bill will afterward proceed to the administration of the White House for signature. Trump has indicated he intends to endorse the measure, after modifying his stance on the issue following pushback from his base. Correspondence Findings A group of Epstein-related messages released by the House Oversight Committee days ago referenced several prominent individuals in the financier's previous network, without implying any illegal behavior by those figures. The emails showed that the economist and Epstein regularly had dinners together, with the billionaire often seeking to introduce the academic to notable global figures. Individual Statement After the messages were made available with the wider community, he said he assumed "complete accountability for my misguided choice to persist in interacting with the financier". He continued that he wanted "to reestablish confidence and fix relationships with the persons nearest to me". Previous Positions Summers occupied leadership roles under Democratic administrations; functioning as economic leader under Bill Clinton, and as director of the economic advisory body under the former leader. He headed the university from 2001 to 2006 and continues to be a faculty member there. When declaring his step-down from public roles recently on this week, he indicated he would continue his educational duties. Other Impacts Following the economist's announcement on earlier this week, the Washington think tank, a left-leaning research organization in Washington where Summers was a researcher, announced that Summers was no longer affiliated with the group. The former official entered the board of OpenAI, which creates the language model, in the previous year - following a failed attempt to oust its chief executive Sam Altman.