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One-time economic leader Larry Summers is leaving the governing body at the ChatGPT creator, just days after a series of electronic messages between him and notorious criminal Jeffrey Epstein became publicly available.

He commented in a statement that he was "thankful for the opportunity to have participated, excited about the promise of the enterprise, and look forward tracking their progress".

The prominent academic, who previously presided over the Ivy League institution, stated on Monday that he would be stepping back from public roles due to his connections with the convicted sex offender.

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The recently released communications showed that the economist corresponded with Epstein until the 24 hours preceding Epstein's 2019 apprehension for suspected human trafficking of young people.

In additional comments, the technology organization expressed it understood his decision to resign.

"We appreciate his numerous inputs and the perspective he provided to the governing body," OpenAI commented.

Congressional Action

This news follows after the two houses of the US legislature voted on this week to endorse a bill that would mandate the US justice department to release its documents on Jeffrey Epstein.

The bill will afterward proceed to the desk of the White House for approval. He has indicated he expects to sign the legislation, after modifying his stance on the issue following pressure from his base.

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A group of Epstein-connected messages disclosed by the Congressional committee last week included multiple prominent individuals in the financier's former circle, without indicating any criminal activity by those individuals.

The messages showed that the economist and Jeffrey Epstein dined together frequently, with Epstein often trying to connect the academic to notable international personalities.

Personal Accountability

After the messages were released with the public, Summers said he accepted "full responsibility for my misguided decision to maintain interacting with Jeffrey Epstein".

He added that he desired "to rebuild trust and fix relationships with the people nearest to me".

Previous Positions

The economist served in high-level positions under two Democratic presidents; serving as treasury secretary under the former president, and as leader of the White House economic team under President Obama.

He presided over the university from 2001 to 2006 and remains a professor there. When announcing his step-down from public duties earlier on this week, he indicated he would continue his teaching commitments.

Other Impacts

Following Summers' statement on earlier this week, the policy organization, a progressive research organization in Washington where Summers was a prominent member, announced that the economist was not associated with the institution.

Summers joined the board of OpenAI, which develops the language model, in last year - following a unsuccessful effort to remove its chief executive Sam Altman.