đŸ”— Share this article Harvard ex-president Summers Resigns from AI Company's Directors The former official stated he would withdraw from public positions after legislative body disclosed his frequent communications with Jeffrey Epstein Former US treasury secretary Lawrence Summers is exiting the governing body at the artificial intelligence firm, just a week after a series of electronic messages between him and deceased financier Jeffrey Epstein became publicly available. The economist stated in an announcement that he was "thankful for the chance to have participated, excited about the prospects of the company, and anticipate tracking their development". Summers, who formerly led the Ivy League institution, stated on Monday that he would be withdrawing from public commitments due to his association with the convicted sex offender. Digital Correspondence The newly public messages showed that the official exchanged messages with Jeffrey Epstein until the eve of Epstein's 2019 apprehension for accused trafficking of minors. In a separate statement, the artificial intelligence company stated it respected Summers' choice to step down. "We appreciate his many contributions and the insight he brought to the directors," OpenAI stated. Legislative Background This news follows after the entire Congress of the legislative branch agreed on recently to pass a bill that would require the federal prosecutors to release its documents on Jeffrey Epstein. The measure will afterward head to the office of US President Donald Trump for approval. Trump has stated he expects to endorse the measure, after modifying his stance on the matter following objections from his followers. Correspondence Findings A group of Epstein-connected correspondence disclosed by the legislative panel last week included multiple prominent individuals in the financier's previous network, without indicating any legal wrongdoing by those individuals. The communications showed that the economist and the financier often met for meals, with the billionaire often attempting to connect the official to influential global figures. Personal Accountability After the messages were shared with the public, he expressed he accepted "full responsibility for my poor choice to persist in communicating with the financier". He further stated that he wanted "to reestablish trust and mend connections with the persons most important to me". Previous Positions The economist occupied high-level positions under party leaders; functioning as economic leader under the former president, and as head of the White House economic team under Barack Obama. He led the university from five years and remains a academic there. When announcing his step-down from public roles recently on Monday, he said he would persist with his educational duties. Other Impacts Following the economist's announcement on Monday, the Center for American Progress, a progressive research organization in DC where the professor was a senior fellow, verified that Summers was no longer connected with the organization. The former official entered the directorate of the technology firm, which makes the AI chatbot, in 2023 - following a defeated move to oust its CEO OpenAI's head.