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Former US treasury secretary Lawrence Summers is exiting the governing body at the artificial intelligence firm, just a week after a collection of emails between him and late convicted sex offender the disgraced billionaire became widely known.

The economist remarked in a statement that he was "thankful for the privilege to have served, optimistic about the prospects of the organization, and look forward observing their advancement".

Summers, who formerly headed the prestigious university, declared on recently that he would be stepping back from public roles due to his relationship with the convicted sex offender.

Email Communications

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

In another announcement, the artificial intelligence company expressed it respected the economist's choice to resign.

"We value his numerous inputs and the perspective he provided to the directors," OpenAI commented.

Congressional Action

This announcement follows after both chambers of Congress agreed on Tuesday to pass a legislation that would require the US justice department to release its files on the case.

The bill will afterward head to the office of the White House for endorsement. The President has stated he expects to approve the legislation, after reversing his view on the issue following pressure from his base.

Message Details

A group of financier-linked messages made public by the Congressional committee last week mentioned multiple high-profile figures in the billionaire's former circle, without suggesting any illegal behavior by those individuals.

The messages revealed that the economist and Jeffrey Epstein dined together frequently, with Epstein often trying to introduce the official to influential global figures.

Individual Statement

After the correspondence were shared with the general audience, he expressed he accepted "total ownership for my poor decision to continue communicating with the financier".

He continued that he hoped "to rebuild faith and fix bonds with the persons most important to me".

Professional History

Summers occupied senior posts under party leaders; serving as treasury secretary under President Clinton, and as leader of the economic advisory body under the former leader.

He presided over the institution from 2001 to 2006 and is still a faculty member there. When declaring his step-down from public commitments recently on this week, he stated he would maintain his educational duties.

Additional Consequences

Following Summers' statement on earlier this week, the policy organization, a left-leaning think tank in Washington where the professor was a researcher, verified that he was no longer associated with the organization.

He became part of the leadership of OpenAI, which makes ChatGPT, in last year - following a failed attempt to oust its CEO OpenAI's head.