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One-time economic leader the Harvard professor is departing from the board at the artificial intelligence firm, just a week after a collection of digital correspondence between him and late convicted sex offender the disgraced billionaire became publicly available.

Summers commented in an announcement that he was "grateful for the opportunity to have served, enthusiastic about the potential of the organization, and eagerly await observing their advancement".

The prominent academic, who formerly headed the Ivy League institution, announced on recently that he would be scaling back from public responsibilities due to his relationship with Epstein.

Email Communications

The freshly disclosed emails demonstrated that Summers communicated with the financier until the eve of his 2019 apprehension for accused human trafficking of minors.

In another announcement, the AI firm said it respected the economist's choice to depart.

"We appreciate his many contributions and the insight he brought to the governing body," OpenAI stated.

Congressional Action

This announcement follows after both chambers of the US legislature voted on recently to pass a measure that would mandate the Department of Justice to disclose its documents on Jeffrey Epstein.

The bill will subsequently proceed to the desk of the White House for endorsement. The President has said he expects to approve the measure, after changing his stance on the issue following objections from his supporters.

Email Contents

A collection of financier-linked emails released by the Congressional committee recently included multiple prominent individuals in the billionaire's former circle, without indicating any illegal behavior by those individuals.

The messages revealed that the economist and Epstein regularly had dinners together, with he often trying to link the academic to notable international personalities.

Personal Accountability

After the emails were shared with the general audience, he said he took "full responsibility for my ill-advised decision to continue interacting with the financier".

He added that he hoped "to reestablish confidence and fix relationships with the individuals closest to me".

Previous Positions

Summers served in leadership roles under two Democratic presidents; acting as treasury secretary under President Clinton, and as head of the White House economic team under President Obama.

He headed Harvard from the early 2000s and continues to be a academic there. When declaring his step-down from public commitments previously on Monday, he stated he would maintain his teaching commitments.

Further Repercussions

Following the economist's announcement on earlier this week, the policy organization, a progressive policy institute in the capital where the professor was a senior fellow, announced that the economist was not affiliated with the organization.

The former official entered the board of the AI company, which develops the AI chatbot, in the previous year - following a defeated move to replace its top executive the company leader.