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Ex-Treasury chief Larry Summers is departing from the governing body at OpenAI, just several days after a collection of emails between him and late convicted sex offender the accused trafficker became public.

Summers commented in a statement that he was "thankful for the privilege to have participated, excited about the prospects of the company, and anticipate following their advancement".

The former Harvard president, who once presided over Harvard University, declared on recently that he would be withdrawing from public roles due to his connections with Epstein.

Email Communications

The newly public communications revealed that Summers corresponded with the financier until the 24 hours preceding Epstein's 2019 apprehension for suspected sex trafficking of minors.

In another announcement, the AI firm expressed it accepted the economist's determination to depart.

"We acknowledge his numerous inputs and the perspective he brought to the directors," the company stated.

Congressional Action

This announcement comes after both chambers of the US legislature voted on Tuesday to pass a measure that would require the Department of Justice to release its files on Epstein.

The legislation will subsequently proceed to the office of US President Donald Trump for signature. The President has indicated he intends to approve the measure, after changing his view on the issue following objections from his supporters.

Correspondence Findings

A batch of Epstein-connected emails made public by the Congressional committee days ago included multiple high-profile figures in the Epstein's previous network, without suggesting any legal wrongdoing by those figures.

The emails showed that the economist and the financier regularly had dinners together, with the billionaire often attempting to link the academic to influential international personalities.

Personal Response

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

He continued that he hoped "to restore confidence and mend connections with the persons closest to me".

Previous Positions

The economist occupied senior posts under two Democratic presidents; acting as treasury secretary under President Clinton, and as head of the White House economic team under President Obama.

He presided over Harvard from 2001 to 2006 and is still a faculty member there. When stating his departure from public roles earlier on this week, he stated he would persist with his teaching commitments.

Additional Consequences

Following his statement on earlier this week, the Washington think tank, a liberal policy institute in DC where the professor was a prominent member, confirmed that the economist was no longer connected with the institution.

He joined the board of the technology firm, which creates ChatGPT, in last year - following a defeated move to remove its chief executive the company leader.