Former UK PM Rishi Sunak Takes Advisory Roles at Microsoft and Anthropic

Former UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to advise Microsoft and Anthropic | TechCrunch

Rishi Sunak, who served as the United Kingdom's prime minister from 2022 to 2024, has taken on senior advisory roles as Microsoft and Anthropic, The Guardian reports. Letters from the Parliament's office of the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (Acoba) disclosing Sunak's appointments revealed concerns that the ex-Conservative PM's privileged information could "grant Microsoft an unfair advantage." Sunak has some history with Microsoft, which has several active contracts with British government departments. In 2023, he unveiled a £2.5 billion deal with Microsoft to invest in new data centers and training in the U.K.. Acoba also noted that "there is a reasonable concern that your appointment could be seen to offer unfair access and influence within the U.K. government...given the ongoing debate about how to best regulate AI, and at a time of intense debate and lobbying around the world on what the approach should be." Sunak said he would steer clear on advising on U.K. policy matters, stick to high-level perspectives on macro-economic and geopolitical trends, and avoid lobbying. He said he would divert his salary to the Richmond Project, a charity he founded with his wife earlier this year. The former PM also serves as a senior advisor to investment bank Goldman Sachs and speech writer for firms like Bain Capital and Makena Capital. Sunak isn't the first British politician to take on roles helping Silicon Valley tech giants navigate governmental affairs. Sunak's senior political adviser, Liam Booth-Smith, is also on Anthropic's payroll. And former Liberal Democrat Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg served as Meta's president of global affairs until January 2025. In the United States, the revolving door between Silicon Valley and the U.S. government is ever-active. At Meta, Clegg was replaced by Joel Kaplan, George W. Bush's former deputy chief of staff, as well as Dustin Carmack, a former adviser to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, joined the firm's policy team in 2024. Microsoft's current president of global affairs is Lisa Monaco, former deputy attorney general under Joe Biden.

Ex-PM Sunak becomes human Clippy for Microsoft, Anthropic

Rishi Sunak is ready to kick-start his career with a couple of openings in the tech industry, a year after the end of his internship as the prime minister of the world's sixth largest economy. Following in the footsteps of Nick Clegg -- former UK deputy prime minister who took up a role at Meta after leaving office -- Sunak was yesterday appointed as a senior adviser by Microsoft. Known for creating systems that defy logic and often require a forced restart, Sunak will continue to serve as an MP on the Conservative backbench. Sunak is also set to take an advisory role at Anthropic, the AI start-up. In a statement on Microsoft-own platform LinkedIn, Sunak said: "Microsoft has driven productivity improvements for decades and Anthropic is one of the most exciting AI frontier labs. "I have long believed that technology will transform our world and play a key part in determining our future. I am excited to help these two companies, as they address the big strategic questions about how to make tech work for our economies, our security and our society," he said. Belief is one thing. Evidence is quite another. Serving as UK finance minister in the spring of 2021, Sunak launched a pandemic-linked program to help move businesses online. It promised 100,000 small businesses a 50 percent discount on software worth up to £5,000 each. A total of £295 million was allocated to the project over three years. Yet in spring of 2024, The Register uncovered that seven percent of that figure had been spent -- or £31.4 million. Sunak says his salary for the tech advisory roles at Microsoft and Anthropic will be donated to a charity he set up with his wife Akshata Murty, the Infosys heiress. Microsoft is well ensconsed in Britain. Under a memorandum of understanding which kicked off in November last year - months after Sunak left office, the government's Crown Commercial Service said it expects a total of approximately £9 billion to be spent over the five years of the MoU, equating to around £1.9 billion per anum. A notification from the Office of the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments on Thursday said Sunak must not lobby ministers on behalf of corporations. It pointed out that Microsoft is also a major investor in the UK and, in Sunak's tenure as prime minister, a £2.5 billion investment was announced at the AI Safety Summit. "You said that your role as a Senior Advisor to Microsoft would involve providing high-level strategic perspectives on macro-economic and geopolitical trends and how they intersect with technology and society. You will also speak at the annual Microsoft Summit. You noted that you will not be advising on any UK policy matters," the committee said. If only he'd applied his "perspectives on macro-economic and geopolitical trends" during his 22 months as prime minister instead of being buffeted by the day's political turbulence. In his role with Anthropic, Sunak once again embraces AI. He previously coined the dubious moniker of the "Unicorn Kingdom" to signify the UK's plans to nurture fast-growing start-ups via a £10 million ($12.43 million) spending boost for AI. Considering consultants at Bain & Company have estimated an investment of $500 billion per annum is required to build out AI data centers, the UK's contribution is unlikely to cover the cabling. Nonetheless, we've all made mistakes. Remember Microsoft's Office Assistant, otherwise known as Clippy? It was prone to popping up at inopportune moments to offer unwanted advice. The Register is comforted knowing Sunak -- who always cut an awkward figure as prime minister -- has found a place where he will at last fit in. ®

Rishi Sunak hired by Microsoft and Anthropic as paid advisor

During his premiership, Sunak made tech regulation a significant priority, setting up an AI safety summit in 2023. In letters of advice sent to Sunak by Acoba and published on Thursday, his role at Microsoft was described as providing "high- level strategic perspectives" on geopolitical trends. The watchdog said it had been informed by Sunak that his advisory role at Anthropic - an AI firm seeking to compete with companies like OpenAI, Google and Meta - would be "akin to operating as an internal think tank". Sunak was told not to advise on bidding for UK contracts, or to lobby the government for two years from his last day in ministerial office. In addition to the two tech roles, it was previously confirmed Sunak will act as a paid advisor to the bank Goldman Sachs, where he previously worked between 2001 and 2004. There had been speculation that Sunak, who was in No 10 between October 2022 and July 2024, would leave the Commons to take up a Silicon Valley role shortly after the election. He previously lived in California, where he still has a home, and held a US visa until 2021. But in his final prime minister's questions, Sunak vowed to spend more time in his constituency, which he called "the greatest place on Earth". "If anyone needs me, I will be in Yorkshire," he said. Earlier this year, he founded the Richmond Project, a charity which will focus on tackling numeracy problems, another area he was vocal about while in Downing Street.

Rishi Sunak takes advisory roles with Microsoft and AI firm Anthropic

Former UK prime minister told post-ministerial jobs watchdog roles would not involve lobbying or UK policy influence Former British prime minister Rishi Sunak has been appointed as a senior adviser by the US technology companies Microsoft and Anthropic. Sunak's pair of new jobs emerged on Thursday in letters published by Westminster's office of the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (Acoba). They add to his roles as a senior adviser to Goldman Sachs International, the investment bank, and speechmaker to investment firms including Bain Capital and Makena Capital in the US, which have netted him over £150,000 a talk. Sunak was prime minister from October 2022 to July 2024, and he joins the $3.9tn technology company Microsoft after applauding it when he was in office as "one of the founding fathers of modern technology". He follows Nick Clegg, the former Liberal Democrat deputy prime minister, in becoming a paid adviser to one of the Silicon Valley giants. Clegg was president of global affairs for Meta, which operates Instagram and Facebook. Sunak's senior political adviser, Liam Booth-Smith, also took a role with Anthropic, it emerged in June. The former Conservative leader unveiled a £2.5bn deal with Microsoft's chief executive, Brad Smith, at the Bletchley Park AI summit in November 2023, in which Microsoft announced what Sunak called a "historic" investment in new datacentres. He also held one-to-one meetings with Bill Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft, which committed another £22bn in UK investment last month and with figures from OpenAI, the startup behind ChatGPT, in which Microsoft is a major investor. Microsoft also has several large contracts with government departments, including the newest memorandum of understanding "representing a yearly spend of £1.4bn to deliver digital transformation, adoption of AI and cloud services", said Acoba, which approved the appointment on condition of guardrails to prevent conflicts of interest. In 2023, while Sunak was in 10 Downing Street, the government's competition watchdog angered Microsoft when it blocked its attempts to buy the Call of Duty maker Activision. The deal went through after it was restructured. The Westminster authorities cited concerns that "there are risks associated with your access to information that may grant Microsoft an unfair advantage". Sunak said that he will provide "high-level strategic perspectives on macro-economic and geopolitical trends" and will not advise on UK policy matters. He will divert his salary from both jobs into the Richmond Project, a charity which sets out to boost social mobility through numeracy that he founded with his wife, Akshata Murty, earlier this year. San Francisco-based Anthropic is a $180bn AI startup which provides the Claude AI tools and is a frontrunner, alongside Google DeepMind and OpenAI, in the race to AGI - artificial general intelligence, which is considered to have capacities that are human-level or greater. Anthropic's chief executive, Dario Amodei, earlier this year predicted that AI could eliminate half of all entry-level white-collar jobs within five years. Acoba said that while AI was a significant priority when Sunak was PM, including enacting legislation affecting companies in the AI sector, "there is no suggestion any decisions or actions were taken in office in expectation of this role, and the Cabinet Office confirmed it is not aware of any decisions you made that were specific to Anthropic, as opposed to sector wide." It said, "there is a reasonable concern that your appointment could be seen to offer unfair access and influence within the UK government", which was heightened "at a time of intense debate and lobbying around the world" on the right approach to regulating the increasingly powerful technology. But Sunak told the committee the role will be internallyoriented and will not involve any lobbying. A spokesperson for Anthropic said it was pleased to welcome Sunak. "He was among the first global leaders to recognize AI's transformative potential, establishing the world's first AI Safety Institute and convening the inaugural AI Safety Summit at Bletchley Park," they said. "His experience will provide valuable strategic perspective as we work to ensure AI benefits humanity. This internally-focused, part-time advisory role fully complies with the conditions of Acoba, and Mr Sunak is donating his entire compensation to the Richmond Project charity." Microsoft and Sunak were approached for comment.

Rishi Sunak joins Anthropic, Microsoft as senior advisor

Former prime minister Rishi Sunak attends AI Summit at Bletchley Park, 2023. Image: Rory Arnold / No 10 Downing Street via Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) Sunak will be donating his salary from the two companies to a charity he co-founded with his wife. Former UK prime minister Rishi Sunak has been appointed as a senior adviser at Microsoft and Anthropic. Sunak, who remains a member of parliament at UK, has been order by the country's advisory committee on business practices not to lobby in the government, or provide any privileged internal information to the companies. The former Conservative Party leader has worked with both the companies previously to set up the 2023 AI Safety Summit. Commenting on his appointment, Anthropic said, "[Sunak] was among the first global leaders to recognise AI's transformative potential, establishing the world's first AI Safety Institute and convening the inaugural AI Safety Summit at Bletchley Park. His experience will provide valuable strategic perspective." Microsoft and Anthropic are major investors into the UK's tech landscape. Last month Microsoft committed £22bn to the country's AI infrastructure in what was its largest-ever financial commitment in the country. Meanwhile Anthropic is a key AI company operating in the UK. Earlier this year, the UK government signed a memorandum of understanding with Anthropic on exploring new AI opportunities and how AI can transform the country's public services. Yesterday (9 October) Sunak said that he "long believed that technology will transform our world", adding that he wants to "help these companies ensure that this shift delivers the improvements in all of our lives that it can". Sunak has said that he will not personally financially benefit from his appointments. He will be donating his salary to The Richmond Project, a charity he established with his wife Akshata Murty. Microsoft backs Anthropic's rival OpenAI as its biggest investor. The operating software leader is currently working with OpenAI to iron out a deal which could see it holding as much as 30pc of the company. Meanwhile the $183bn start-up Anthropic is fast expanding globally, having recently announced plans to triple its global workforce. Sunak's appointment follows former UK deputy prime minister Nick Clegg, who served as Meta's president of global affairs for a number of years. He stepped down earlier this year, shortly before Donald Trump's second term as the US president. Don't miss out on the knowledge you need to succeed. Sign up for the Daily Brief, Silicon Republic's digest of need-to-know sci-tech news. Former prime minister Rishi Sunak attends AI Summit at Bletchley Park, 2023. Image: Rory Arnold / No 10 Downing Street via Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

Former U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak joins Microsoft and Anthropic as an advisor - SiliconANGLE

Former U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is moving into the technology world, joining Microsoft Corp. and the artificial intelligence startup Anthropic PBC as a senior advisor. Sunak (pictured), who quit his role as leader of the U.K.'s opposition Conservative Party after suffering defeat in that country's general election in July 2024, is still a member of the British Parliament. As a former PM, he's also subject to certain conditions imposed on him by the U.K.'s Advisory Committee on Business Appointments, or ACOBA, which is a body that lays out the rules on new jobs for former ministers and senior civil servants, and is tasked with preventing them from using their political influence to favor any company or organization they work for. Sunak said in a post on LinkedIn that he'll be advising Microsoft on macroeconomic and geopolitical trends. As part of his new role, he'll also speak at the company's annual summit, but he will not be providing any advice regarding U.K. policy matters. He'll fulfill a similar role at Anthropic, providing advice on global strategic matters, rather than U.K.-specific policy. Due to ACOBA's rules, he is prohibited from making contact with U.K. government officials on behalf of either company until two years have passed since his last day in public office. He's also not allowed to draw on any privileged information obtained during his time in government that might be able to help either company, the rules say. While serving as U.K. Prime Minister, Sunak made tech regulation and investment a significant priority, notably setting up a global AI safety summit in 2023. He sought to establish the country as an AI powerhouse, and also relaxed rules on cryptocurrencies during his time in office. In his LinkedIn post, Sunak reiterated his interest in technology and his belief that it can help to create a better future. He added that his role will help Microsoft and Anthropic answer strategic questions about how to make their technology work for the economy, improve security and benefit society. "Microsoft has driven productivity improvements for decades and Anthropic is one of the most exciting AI frontier labs," Sunak said. "We stand on the edge of a technological revolution whose impacts will be as profound as those of the industrial revolution: and felt more quickly. In my role as a senior advisor, I want to help these companies ensure that this shift delivers the improvements in all of our lives that it can." Sunak added that the salary he earns from his advisory roles will be donated to The Richmond Project, a charity he started with his wife Akshate Murty in March. The Richmond Project aims to improve numeracy in the U.K, helping children struggling at school, families lacking in number confidence and adults who have failed to master basic math.

Former British PM Rishi Sunak cleared for part-time advisory roles at Microsoft, Anthropic, with caveats

Former UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has joined Microsoft and Anthropic as a senior advisor. The UK's Advisory Committee on Business Appointments has set guidelines for his new roles. Sunak will offer strategic perspectives on global trends and technology. His earnings will go to a charity. He previously worked with investment firms. A little over a year after leaving office, former UK prime minister Rishi Sunak has taken up advisory roles at Microsoft and Anthropic. The Indian-origin Tory politician will be a part-time senior advisor to the two companies. The UK's Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (Acoba), an independent public body sponsored by the Cabinet Office, has issued guidelines for Sunak to follow to ensure his employers do not get a competitive advantage. Sunak was a vocal proponent of technology, especially artificial intelligence (AI) during his time at 10 Downing Street. He had convened the AI safety summit in 2023, and subsequently set up the AI safety institute. During his premiership, Sunak met Bill Gates as well Microsoft representatives. His interactions with Anthropic were limited, Acoba noted. Acoba clarified that Sunak's new jobs do not appear to be instances of quid pro quo, but his proximity to UK policy and knowledge of privileged information constitute a risk. Cooldown period Sunak stepped down as the UK prime minister 14 months ago, after a crushing defeat in the general election. Acoba said he does not have access to sensitive information, and the currency of knowledge with him diminishes over time with respect to a fast-moving sector such as AI. Despite this, "it is difficult to demonstrate that information that was available to you as Prime Minister on relevant matters is now obsolete", Acoba said in its advisory note. Hence, Sunak has been asked not to advise Microsoft and Anthropic on matters related to UK policy or government contracts for two years from the time he left office. He cannot lobby the UK government or associated entities on behalf of the two companies for the same period. Sunak has also been prohibited from drawing upon any privileged information he holds from his time as prime minister. The former PM has been asked to inform Acoba as soon as his appointments are live or announced. Notably, Microsoft has significant investments in the UK to build AI infrastructure, whereas Anthropic had signed a memorandum of understanding with the UK government on exploring AI opportunities and transforming the nation's public services. What Rishi Sunak is up to Sunak returned to global investment bank Goldman Sachs International as a senior advisor after handing over the office to Keir Starmer in July last year. In his new paid roles at Microsoft and Anthropic, the Conservative Party politician will provide "high-level strategic perspectives on macroeconomic and geopolitical trends and how they intersect with technology and society" Acoba said. His paychecks from these two companies would go to The Richmond Project, a charity with Sunak as a trustee. Sunak has also addressed US investment firms, including Bain Capital and Makena Capital, making £150,000 per speech.

Rishi Sunak Joins Microsoft, Amazon-Backed Anthropic As Senior Adviser: 'Proceeds From These Roles Will Be Donated In Full' - Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG), Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN)

On Thursday, former British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced that he has taken senior advisory roles with Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)-backed Anthropic. Sunak To Advise On Global Strategy, AI Policy In a post shared on LinkedIn, Sunak confirmed that both positions and said, "proceeds from these roles will be donated in full to The Richmond Project," referring to the charity he founded with his wife, Akshata Murty. Backed by Amazon and Alphabet Inc.'s (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Google, Anthropic said Sunak's part-time advisory role was compliant with rules set by the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments, or ACOBA, reported Reuters. The company said that Sunak is prohibited from initiating contact with U.K. government officials on behalf of Anthropic. At Microsoft, Sunak will offer strategic insights into global economic and political developments. According to an ACOBA letter, he is also scheduled to speak at the company's upcoming annual Microsoft Summit. See Also: Nvidia Reportedly Bets $2 Billion On Elon Musk's xAI -- And Its Own GPUs Will Fuel 'Colossus 2' Gigawatt-Scale AI Supercluster Sunak's Expanding Post-Premiership Portfolio The former prime minister, who remains a member of Parliament, stepped down as Conservative Party leader following his party's defeat in July's general election. In July, he returned to Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) as an adviser, where he began his career in the early 2000s. Meanwhile, Anthropic's valuation has surged to $183 billion following a $13 billion fundraising round co-led by Fidelity and Lightspeed Venture Partners. Microsoft also continues to expand its AI footprint, integrating Anthropic's Claude models into Office 365 apps like Word and Excel. Price Action: Microsoft shares slipped 0.47% on Thursday to close at $522.40 but edged up 0.006% in after-hours trading, according to Benzinga Pro. The stock scores strongly in Benzinga's Edge Stock Rankings across Momentum, Growth and Quality, reflecting solid price performance over short, medium and long-term periods. Check out a full breakdown of the stock alongside its peers and competitors. Read More: Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang Says Intel Spent 33 Years 'Trying To Kill Us' But Now Calls The Chip Rival A Partner: 'We're Lovers, Not Fighters' Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors. Photo courtesy: Shutterstock AMZNAmazon.com Inc$227.621.07%OverviewGOOGAlphabet Inc$242.10-1.37%GOOGLAlphabet Inc$241.33-1.34%GSThe Goldman Sachs Group Inc$780.800.55%MSFTMicrosoft Corp$522.90-0.37%Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs

Microsoft, Anthropic Hire Former British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak

Microsoft and AI firm Anthropic hired former U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak as an adviser, following his appointment to a similar role at Goldman Sachs. Sunak, who remains a member of Britain's parliament, said in a social media post Thursday that he would be working with the tech companies as a senior adviser and strategic consultant. He will donate his full compensation from the roles to The Richmond Project, a charity run by him and wife Akshata Murty that aims to improve numeracy in the U.K., Sunak said. Anthropic and Microsoft are addressing strategic questions on how to make tech work for economies, security and society, he said. Sunak took on a similar role as a senior adviser at Goldman Sachs in July, where he had previously worked as an analyst in the early 2000s before shifting into hedge-fund roles and later entering politics. His move into advisory roles comes after he became Prime Minister in the fall of 2022--until his Conservative Party lost a general election to the Labour Party last year. He still holds a seat in parliament as a lawmaker representing the Richmond and Northallerton constituencies in northern England. During his time as PM, Sunak held a summit on artificial intelligence in November 2023, and launched the U.K.'s AI Safety Institute. A spokesperson for Anthropic said the role is a part-time appointment and fully complies with requirements outlined by the U.K.'s Advisory Committee on Business Appointments. The independent committee, which advices former ministers seeking roles after their service, recommended that Sunak's roles should be limited to giving strategy, macroeconomic and geopolitical advice, and not relating to work of the U.K. government for a period of two years after his last day in office. Microsoft said it had a strong system in place for addressing conflicts, according to the committee. "Microsoft works with advisors from a range of industries and is thankful for their expertise and insights," a company spokesperson said. Sunak didn't immediately reply to a request for comment.