🔗 Share this article

Ex-Treasury chief Larry Summers is exiting the governing body at OpenAI, just days after a series of emails between him and deceased financier Jeffrey Epstein became publicly available.

The economist commented in a release that he was "appreciative for the privilege to have participated, enthusiastic about the potential of the company, and look forward tracking their progress".

Summers, who formerly led the prestigious university, declared on earlier this week that he would be scaling back from public commitments due to his association with the convicted sex offender.

Email Communications

The freshly disclosed messages showed that the official exchanged messages with the financier until the day before Epstein's 2019 arrest for alleged sex trafficking of young people.

In a separate statement, the technology organization expressed it accepted Summers' choice to depart.

"We value his significant contributions and the perspective he provided to the Board," the organization commented.

Legislative Background

This news comes after both chambers of Congress decided on Tuesday to endorse a measure that would require the US justice department to release its records on the case.

The legislation will afterward proceed to the administration of US President Donald Trump for endorsement. Trump has stated he expects to sign the legislation, after changing his stance on the issue following objections from his base.

Message Details

A group of Epstein-connected emails released by the legislative panel days ago mentioned multiple high-profile figures in the financier's past associates, without suggesting any illegal behavior by those individuals.

The messages showed that the economist and Jeffrey Epstein regularly had dinners together, with Epstein often attempting to introduce the academic to influential global figures.

Individual Statement

After the correspondence were shared with the public, the former official expressed he took "complete accountability for my poor choice to maintain interacting with Mr Epstein".

He added that he desired "to restore confidence and mend relationships with the persons nearest to me".

Career Background

The economist served in leadership roles under Democratic administrations; serving as economic leader under Bill Clinton, and as head of the White House economic team under President Obama.

He led Harvard from 2001 to 2006 and remains a academic there. When announcing his step-down from public roles previously on this week, he stated he would maintain his teaching commitments.

Further Repercussions

Following the economist's statement on earlier this week, the policy organization, a liberal think tank in Washington where Summers was a researcher, confirmed that he was not associated with the organization.

Summers entered the directorate of the technology firm, which makes the AI chatbot, in the previous year - following a failed attempt to oust its top executive Sam Altman.