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Ex-Treasury chief Larry Summers is departing from the board at the artificial intelligence firm, just several days after a batch of electronic messages between him and notorious criminal the disgraced billionaire became public.

Summers remarked in a statement that he was "appreciative for the chance to have participated, optimistic about the prospects of the enterprise, and anticipate tracking their advancement".

The former Harvard president, who previously headed the prestigious university, stated on Monday that he would be scaling back from public roles due to his association with the convicted sex offender.

Message Exchange

The newly public communications showed that Summers communicated with Epstein until the 24 hours preceding Epstein's 2019 apprehension for accused trafficking of young people.

In another announcement, the technology organization stated it respected Summers' decision to depart.

"We acknowledge his significant contributions and the perspective he offered to the directors," the organization stated.

Congressional Action

This announcement follows after the two houses of Congress agreed on this week to endorse a bill that would require the US justice department to make public its records on Jeffrey Epstein.

The legislation will then proceed to the administration of the White House for endorsement. The President has said he plans to endorse the measure, after changing his position on the matter following pushback from his base.

Email Contents

A batch of Epstein-connected emails made public by the House Oversight Committee days ago referenced several high-profile figures in the Epstein's previous network, without indicating any illegal behavior by those individuals.

The messages indicated that the professor and Epstein dined together frequently, with Epstein often trying to link the official to prominent international personalities.

Personal Accountability

After the correspondence were made available with the wider community, Summers expressed he assumed "full responsibility for my poor judgment to continue interacting with Mr Epstein".

He further stated that he desired "to rebuild trust and mend connections with the individuals nearest to me".

Career Background

The economist served in leadership roles under two Democratic presidents; serving as Treasury chief under President Clinton, and as head of the economic advisory body under Barack Obama.

He headed the institution from the early 2000s and continues to be a professor there. When announcing his withdrawal from public duties recently on Monday, he stated he would persist with his teaching commitments.

Additional Consequences

Following his statement on Monday, the Washington think tank, a left-leaning research organization in DC where he was a senior fellow, verified that the economist was ceased to be associated with the organization.

He became part of the directorate of the technology firm, which develops the language model, in last year - following a defeated move to replace its top executive Sam Altman.