🔗 Share this article Former Treasury Secretary Summers Leaves from AI Company's Directors Summers announced he would withdraw from public roles after House committee made public his frequent messages with the financier Former US treasury secretary the Harvard professor is exiting the governing body at OpenAI, just a week after a batch of emails between him and deceased financier Jeffrey Epstein became publicly available. Summers stated in a release that he was "thankful for the chance to have contributed, excited about the potential of the organization, and look forward observing their development". The prominent academic, who formerly headed the Ivy League institution, declared on Monday that he would be withdrawing from public commitments due to his connections with Epstein. Email Communications The freshly disclosed communications demonstrated that Summers corresponded with Jeffrey Epstein until the eve of his 2019 apprehension for accused human trafficking of minors. In a separate statement, the AI firm said it accepted the economist's choice to depart. "We value his numerous inputs and the insight he offered to the governing body," OpenAI stated. Political Context This development comes after both chambers of the legislative branch decided on recently to pass a bill that would require the Department of Justice to disclose its records on the case. The measure will subsequently proceed to the office of President Trump for endorsement. Trump has said he expects to sign the legislation, after reversing his view on the issue following pushback from his base. Message Details A batch of Epstein-related correspondence released by the Congressional committee last week mentioned several well-known personalities in the financier's previous network, without suggesting any criminal activity by those figures. The communications showed that Summers and Epstein often met for meals, with Epstein often attempting to connect Summers to notable international personalities. Personal Response After the messages were shared with the wider community, he said he took "complete accountability for my poor judgment to maintain corresponding with the financier". He continued that he wanted "to reestablish trust and repair relationships with the persons most important to me". Professional History The professor served in high-level positions under party leaders; acting as Treasury chief under Bill Clinton, and as director of the White House economic team under Barack Obama. He led the university from the early 2000s and is still a professor there. When announcing his step-down from public roles recently on this week, he indicated he would maintain his educational duties. Additional Consequences Following Summers' declaration on Monday, the Center for American Progress, a left-leaning research organization in DC where he was a senior fellow, announced that Summers was ceased to be affiliated with the institution. He became part of the directorate of the technology firm, which makes ChatGPT, in 2023 - following a defeated move to replace its top executive Sam Altman.