🔗 Share this article

Ex-Treasury chief the Harvard professor is leaving the board at the artificial intelligence firm, just several days after a batch of electronic messages between him and late convicted sex offender the disgraced billionaire became publicly available.

Summers remarked in an announcement that he was "thankful for the chance to have participated, enthusiastic about the promise of the enterprise, and eagerly await tracking their advancement".

The prominent academic, who once led Harvard University, declared on Monday that he would be withdrawing from public responsibilities due to his connections with Epstein.

Message Exchange

The freshly disclosed messages revealed that the official communicated with Epstein until the day before Epstein's 2019 apprehension for accused trafficking of underage individuals.

In additional comments, the AI firm said it accepted the economist's decision to depart.

"We acknowledge his many contributions and the viewpoint he brought to the directors," the organization stated.

Congressional Action

This news arrives after the two houses of the legislative branch decided on Tuesday to pass a measure that would require the federal prosecutors to make public its files on Jeffrey Epstein.

The legislation will subsequently proceed to the administration of US President Donald Trump for approval. He has stated he plans to sign the measure, after modifying his view on the issue following pushback from his followers.

Correspondence Findings

A collection of Epstein-related correspondence made public by the Congressional committee days ago included numerous well-known personalities in the financier's previous network, without indicating any legal wrongdoing by those figures.

The communications revealed that the economist and the financier regularly had dinners together, with the billionaire often attempting to link the official to influential international personalities.

Personal Response

After the correspondence were made available with the general audience, Summers said he took "complete accountability for my ill-advised choice to persist in corresponding with the financier".

He added that he desired "to reestablish confidence and mend connections with the individuals most important to me".

Previous Positions

The professor held senior posts under two Democratic presidents; acting as Treasury chief under Bill Clinton, and as head of the National Economic Council under President Obama.

He presided over Harvard from five years and continues to be a academic there. When announcing his step-down from public duties previously on Monday, he indicated he would persist with his academic responsibilities.

Further Repercussions

Following his declaration on earlier this week, the policy organization, a liberal policy institute in Washington where Summers was a prominent member, confirmed that Summers was not associated with the institution.

Summers became part of the directorate of the AI company, which develops the AI chatbot, in the previous year - following a unsuccessful effort to oust its chief executive Sam Altman.