🔗 Share this article

Former US treasury secretary the Harvard professor is exiting the board at OpenAI, just a week after a collection of emails between him and late convicted sex offender the disgraced billionaire became public.

The economist stated in a release that he was "grateful for the chance to have contributed, optimistic about the potential of the company, and anticipate tracking their advancement".

Summers, who previously headed the Ivy League institution, declared on Monday that he would be stepping back from public commitments due to his relationship with the convicted sex offender.

Message Exchange

The freshly disclosed emails revealed that Summers communicated with Jeffrey Epstein until the day before Epstein's 2019 detention for alleged sex trafficking of young people.

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

"We value his significant contributions and the insight he brought to the governing body," OpenAI commented.

Legislative Background

This development follows after both chambers of the US legislature decided on this week to approve a measure that would compel the federal prosecutors to disclose its documents on Epstein.

The bill will then move to the desk of the White House for endorsement. The President has stated he intends to endorse the legislation, after modifying his stance on the matter following objections from his followers.

Correspondence Findings

A group of Epstein-related emails disclosed by the Congressional committee last week included multiple high-profile figures in the financier's former circle, without indicating any criminal activity by those people.

The emails showed that the economist and Epstein regularly had dinners together, with Epstein often seeking to connect the official to prominent global figures.

Personal Response

After the correspondence were made available with the public, Summers said he took "complete accountability for my poor choice to maintain interacting with Jeffrey Epstein".

He added that he desired "to rebuild confidence and repair relationships with the persons most important to me".

Career Background

The professor held high-level positions under two Democratic presidents; serving as Treasury chief under President Clinton, and as director of the economic advisory body under the former leader.

He led the university from five years and remains a academic there. When announcing his departure from public commitments previously on Monday, he stated he would persist with his educational duties.

Additional Consequences

Following his declaration on Monday, the Center for American Progress, a progressive think tank in DC where Summers was a researcher, announced that Summers was ceased to be affiliated with the organization.

He entered the directorate of the technology firm, which creates the language model, in the previous year - following a failed attempt to oust its CEO the company leader.