A week after a tranche of emails between him and late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein was made public, former US Treasury Secretary Larry Summers is leaving the OpenAI board.

 "Grateful for the opportunity to have served, excited about the potential of the company, and look forward to following their progress" was how Summers put it in a statement to the BBC.

 Summers, a former Harvard University president, announced on Monday that he would no longer be making public statements regarding his relationship with Epstein.

 According to the newly made public emails, Summers kept in touch with Epstein up until the day before he was arrested in 2019 for allegedly trafficking in children.