Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Larry Summers has resigned from the board of tech company OpenAI days after announcing he was stepping away from public commitments because of his connection to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Summers has come under scrutiny after emails released Nov. 12 by the House Oversight Committee included exchanges between him and Epstein around 2019. The trove of messages showed Summers corresponded with the disgraced financier on a range of topics, even seeking advice for his love life.

On Nov. 17, Summers announced he was retreating from his public commitments in light of the emails. Summers, who was treasury secretary under President Bill Clinton, was later the president of Harvard University from 2001 to 2006.

Meanwhile, both chambers of Congress overwhelmingly passed a bill to compel the Justice Department to release its files on Epstein in separate votes Nov. 18.

Larry Summers resigns from OpenAI board

Summers and OpenAI confirmed in statements obtained by USA TODAY on Nov. 19 that he is stepping down from the company's board.

"In line with my announcement to step away from my public commitments, I have also decided to resign from the board of OpenAI. I am grateful for the opportunity to have served, excited about the potential of the company, and look forward to following their progress," Summers said.

OpenAI's board said: "Larry has decided to resign from the OpenAI Board of Directors, and we respect his decision. We appreciate his many contributions and the perspective he brought to the Board."

Summers joined the company as an independent adviser in 2023. OpenAI is known for its artificial intelligence models, including ChatGPT and Sora.

Latest on Larry Summers, Epstein files

According to a statement Nov. 17 to The Harvard Crimson, the university's newspaper, Summers said he is "deeply ashamed of my actions and recognize the pain they have caused."

"I take full responsibility for my misguided decision to continue communicating with Mr. Epstein," he said, adding that he would "be stepping back from public commitments" but continue to teach at the university.

Harvard said in a statement to The Crimson on Nov. 19 that it was "conducting a review of information concerning individuals at Harvard included in the newly released Jeffrey Epstein documents to evaluate what actions may be warranted.” USA TODAY has reached out to Harvard.

Summers is director of the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government at Harvard's Kennedy School, according to its website. He teaches five courses at the university, The Crimson reported.

Summers had also been a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, but the liberal policy group said in a statement that Summers' decision to step away from public commitments included his CAP fellowship.

Epstein, who died by suicide in 2019 while in jail awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges, was accused of sexually abusing and trafficking possibly hundreds of women and girls. He had pleaded guilty in 2008 to separate state child prostitution charges in Florida.

Melina Khan is a national trending reporter for USA TODAY. She can be reached at melina.khan@usatoday.com.

Contributing: Marc Ramirez

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Larry Summers resigns from OpenAI board amid Jeffrey Epstein fallout

Reporting by Melina Khan, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect