Former United Kingdom Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has taken up advisory roles at tech giant Microsoft and artificial intelligence firm, Anthropic. Sunak, who still represents Richmond and Northallerton, in the British parliamen, said he was “delighted” to be working “with two of the world’s leading tech firms” and planned to donate his earnings to a his charity foundation.
On taking the roles in the companies, former investment banker has been told never to lobby ministers on behalf of the firms by the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (Acoba), an independent watchdog which oversees the activities of former government figures. In letters of advice sent to the former prime minister by Acoba and published on Thursday, his part-time 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 part-time advisory role at Anthropic in seeking to compete with other tech companies like OpenAI, Google and Meta would be “akin to operating as an internal think tank”. Acoba said Anthropic “has a significant interest in UK government policy,” suspecting that Sunak’s appointment could potentially be seen to offer “unfair access and influence” within government.
Acoba also wrote that his appointment with Microsoft also presented similar issues. However, it also said that his time spent out of government would have reduced the value of any information the former PM might still possess while reiterating the standing rules ex-ministers have to abide when seeking employment after leaving government.
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.
