đź”— Share this article Harvard ex-president Summers Steps Down from OpenAI Board The economist announced he would withdraw from public positions after Congressional panel made public his frequent correspondence with Epstein One-time economic leader the Harvard professor is exiting the governing body at the artificial intelligence firm, just several days after a batch of digital correspondence between him and late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein became widely known. The economist remarked in a statement that he was "thankful for the privilege to have contributed, enthusiastic about the prospects of the organization, and eagerly await following their advancement". Summers, who formerly headed the prestigious university, announced on Monday that he would be stepping back from public commitments due to his association with the convicted sex offender. Email Communications The freshly disclosed emails demonstrated that the economist corresponded with the financier until the eve of his 2019 apprehension for suspected trafficking of minors. In a separate statement, the technology organization said it understood the economist's decision to depart. "We appreciate his numerous inputs and the perspective he offered to the directors," the company commented. Political Context This announcement arrives after the two houses of the legislative branch voted on Tuesday to pass a bill that would mandate the Department of Justice to make public its records on Jeffrey Epstein. The measure will subsequently move to the desk of the White House for approval. He has stated he intends to approve the legislation, after changing his position on the matter following pushback from his followers. Message Details A batch of Epstein-connected messages released by the legislative panel days ago referenced several prominent individuals in the financier's previous network, without implying any criminal activity by those individuals. The communications showed that the professor and Jeffrey Epstein often met for meals, with Epstein often attempting to connect the academic to prominent global figures. Personal Accountability After the emails were made available with the wider community, he said he accepted "complete accountability for my poor choice to maintain interacting with the financier". He further stated that he desired "to rebuild faith and mend connections with the people closest to me". Previous Positions The professor served in high-level positions under Democratic administrations; functioning as Treasury chief under Bill Clinton, and as head of the White House economic team under Barack Obama. He headed the university from 2001 to 2006 and remains a academic there. When declaring his step-down from public roles previously on this week, he stated he would persist with his educational duties. Other Impacts Following the economist's declaration on earlier this week, the Center for American Progress, a left-leaning think tank in DC where Summers was a senior fellow, announced that he was no longer connected with the organization. Summers entered the leadership of the technology firm, which creates ChatGPT, in 2023 - following a failed attempt to remove its top executive OpenAI's head.