Rishi Sunak takes advisory roles at Microsoft and AI firm Anthropic

Former UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has accepted paid advisory positions with technology giant Microsoft and artificial intelligence start-up Anthropic.

According to a BBC report, the appointments have been cleared by the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (Acoba) - the independent body that monitors post-government employment for former ministers and senior officials. 

The watchdog, however, has prohibited Sunak from lobbying the government or offering advice on UK contracts on behalf of either company for a period of two years.

Sunak, who continues to serve as the MP for Richmond and Northallerton, said he was "delighted" to be working "with two of the world's leading tech firms" and announced that he would donate his earnings from the roles to The Richmond Project, a charity he co-founded to tackle numeracy challenges across the UK.

During his tenure as prime minister, Sunak placed major emphasis on emerging technologies and regulation, notably hosting the UK's first AI Safety Summit in 2023.

Acoba's advisory letters, published on Thursday, described Sunak's position at Microsoft as providing "high-level strategic perspectives" on geopolitical developments. 

His part-time role at Anthropic - an AI company competing with OpenAI, Google, and Meta - was said to be "akin to operating as an internal think tank."

The watchdog acknowledged that both Anthropic and Microsoft hold "significant interests in UK government policy," raising the potential for "unfair access and influence." It added, however, that Sunak's time out of office had likely diminished the sensitivity of any information he still possessed.

In addition to his new tech advisory positions, it was earlier confirmed that Sunak would also serve as a paid adviser to Goldman Sachs, where he worked between 2001 and 2004.

There had been speculation following the 2024 general election that Sunak might relocate to Silicon Valley to pursue a full-time role in the tech sector. However, during his final Prime Minister's Questions, he pledged to remain focused on his Yorkshire constituency, calling it "the greatest place on Earth."

"If anyone needs me, I will be in Yorkshire," he said.

Announcing his new roles on social media, Sunak reaffirmed his optimism about technological progress, saying he wanted to "ensure that coming technological change delivers the improvements in all of our lives."

"I have long believed that technology will transform our world and play a key part in determining our future," Sunak wrote. 

"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."