Anthropic, Microsoft hires former British PM as paid adviser

In a surprising move, former British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has been appointed as a paid adviser to two of the world’s leading artificial intelligence (AI) companies, Microsoft and Anthropic.

Announcing the news on LinkedIn, Sunak revealed that all proceeds from these roles will be donated to “The Richmond Project,” a charity he co-founded with his wife, Akshata Murty.

Notably, Sunak, who stepped down as Conservative Party leader after the 2024 general election defeat, remains a Member of Parliament and has recently rejoined Goldman Sachs in an advisory capacity.

The move also marks his third high-profile private sector engagement since leaving office.

According to Anthropic, which is backed by Amazon and Google, Sunak’s position is a part-time, internal advisory role focused on global strategy, macroeconomics, and geopolitics and not on UK-specific policy.

The company emphasised that the appointment complies with rules set by the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (ACOBA), which monitors post-ministerial employment.

Moreover, at Microsoft, Sunak will similarly advise on strategic and geopolitical issues, and is expected to speak at the upcoming Microsoft Summit.

However, ACOBA clarified that Sunak is barred from lobbying UK officials or using any privileged information from his time in government for two years.