🔗 Share this article

Ex-Treasury chief the Harvard professor is departing from the directorate at the ChatGPT creator, just several days after a series of electronic messages between him and late convicted sex offender the disgraced billionaire became widely known.

He remarked in a statement that he was "thankful for the privilege to have contributed, enthusiastic about the potential of the enterprise, and look forward following their progress".

The former Harvard president, who formerly headed the Ivy League institution, stated on earlier this week that he would be stepping back from public roles due to his association with Epstein.

Email Communications

The newly public emails demonstrated that the economist communicated with the financier until the eve of Epstein's 2019 arrest for alleged trafficking of underage individuals.

In another announcement, the artificial intelligence company expressed it understood the economist's decision to depart.

"We appreciate his significant contributions and the insight he brought to the governing body," OpenAI remarked.

Congressional Action

This news follows after both chambers of Congress voted on this week to approve a bill that would compel the Department of Justice to make public its files on Epstein.

The legislation will then head to the administration of US President Donald Trump for endorsement. Trump has said he intends to sign the legislation, after reversing his view on the matter following pressure from his base.

Email Contents

A batch of Epstein-related messages disclosed by the legislative panel last week referenced multiple well-known personalities in the billionaire's former circle, without indicating any criminal activity by those people.

The emails revealed that the professor and Epstein dined together frequently, with the billionaire often attempting to link the official to notable international personalities.

Individual Statement

After the correspondence were made available with the public, he said he assumed "full responsibility for my poor judgment to continue interacting with Mr Epstein".

He added that he desired "to reestablish trust and repair relationships with the persons most important to me".

Professional History

The professor occupied leadership roles under party leaders; serving as treasury secretary under the former president, and as head of the National Economic Council under President Obama.

He headed the university from 2001 to 2006 and remains a professor there. When announcing his withdrawal from public roles previously on this week, he stated he would maintain his educational duties.

Additional Consequences

Following his declaration on Monday, the Washington think tank, a liberal policy institute in Washington where he was a prominent member, confirmed that the economist was ceased to be connected with the institution.

He joined the leadership of OpenAI, which makes ChatGPT, in the previous year - following a defeated move to replace its top executive Sam Altman.