Former UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to advise Microsoft and Anthropic

Rishi Sunak, who served as UK Prime Minister from 2022 to 2024, has held senior advisory roles at Microsoft and Anthropic. The Guardian reports.

Messages From the Parliamentary Office of the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (ACOBA), revelations of Sunak’s appointments raised concerns that the former Conservative prime minister’s confidential information could “give 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 UK.

Akoba too male “There are reasonable concerns that your appointment will be seen as providing unfair access and influence within the UK government… given the ongoing debate about how best to regulate AI, and at a time of intense debate and lobbying around the world about what that approach should be.”

Sunak said he would clearly stay away from advising on British policy matters, stick to high-level views on macroeconomic and geopolitical trends, and avoid lobbying. He said he would transfer his salary to The Richmond Project, a charity he founded with his wife earlier this year.

The former Prime Minister also works as a senior advisor to investment bank Goldman Sachs and a speechwriter for companies such as Bain Capital and Makena Capital.

Sunak is not the first British politician to take on roles helping Silicon Valley tech giants manage government affairs. Sunak’s chief political adviser, Liam Booth-Smith, is also on Anthropic’s payroll. Former Liberal Democrat Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg served as Meta’s Head of Global Affairs until January 2025.

In the United States, the revolving door between Silicon Valley and the US government remains always active. At Meta, Clegg was replaced by Joel Kaplan, former deputy chief of staff to George W. Bush, as well as Dustin Carmack, former advisor to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who joined the company’s policy team in 2024. Microsoft’s current head of global affairs is Lisa Monaco, a former deputy attorney general under Joe Biden.