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Former US treasury secretary Lawrence Summers is exiting the governing body at the ChatGPT creator, just days after a batch of digital correspondence between him and deceased financier the accused trafficker became public.

Summers commented in a statement that he was "thankful for the opportunity to have contributed, enthusiastic about the promise of the organization, and look forward observing their progress".

The prominent academic, who previously led the Ivy League institution, stated on recently that he would be stepping back from public responsibilities due to his association with Epstein.

Message Exchange

The freshly disclosed messages showed that the economist corresponded with Epstein until the eve of his 2019 apprehension for accused trafficking of minors.

In additional comments, the artificial intelligence company stated it respected his choice to step down.

"We acknowledge his many contributions and the perspective he provided to the governing body," the organization stated.

Legislative Background

This news comes after the entire Congress of the legislative branch voted on this week to approve a legislation that would compel the US justice department to disclose its documents on Jeffrey Epstein.

The bill will subsequently proceed to the administration of the White House for signature. The President has said he expects to sign the legislation, after changing his position on the subject following objections from his base.

Message Details

A group of financier-linked messages released by the legislative panel days ago mentioned numerous well-known personalities in the Epstein's past associates, without suggesting any criminal activity by those people.

The messages indicated that Summers and Epstein often met for meals, with he often seeking to connect the official to notable world leaders.

Personal Accountability

After the messages were shared with the public, he stated he took "full responsibility for my ill-advised decision to continue interacting with Jeffrey Epstein".

He added that he hoped "to rebuild faith and fix bonds with the individuals nearest to me".

Previous Positions

Summers occupied leadership roles under two Democratic presidents; serving as Treasury chief under Bill Clinton, and as leader of the White House economic team under Barack Obama.

He headed the institution from 2001 to 2006 and is still a academic there. When announcing his withdrawal from public roles previously on this week, he indicated he would persist with his academic responsibilities.

Additional Consequences

Following Summers' announcement on earlier this week, the policy organization, a left-leaning policy institute in Washington where Summers was a prominent member, announced that the economist was ceased to be associated with the group.

He became part of the board of OpenAI, which makes ChatGPT, in last year - following a unsuccessful effort to replace its top executive Sam Altman.