Architect of UK AI strategy joins Anthropic in international affairs role

Matt Clifford's move to Anthropic

Matt Clifford, the architect of the UK government's AI strategy and a prominent tech investor, has joined the US artificial intelligence startup Anthropic as managing director for international affairs. In his new role, Clifford will lead the company's engagement with governments outside the US, including in the UK, Europe, Asia-Pacific and India. Anthropic, the developer of the Claude chatbot, is preparing for a stock market debut that could value it at $2tn (£1.5tn).

Clifford was appointed as AI opportunities adviser by Prime Minister Keir Starmer last year, but resigned from the unpaid role six months later for personal reasons. Before that, he served as the representative of former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak at the 2023 AI Safety Summit in the UK and helped create the organisation that later became the AI Security Institute. As Starmer's adviser, he drafted the government's AI action plan, which supports the creation of AI growth zones for datacentres and the building of the UK's own AI models.

Despite his new role at Anthropic, Clifford will continue to serve as chair of the UK government-backed Advanced Research and Invention Agency (Aria), which funds "moonshot" science and tech projects, and of Entrepreneurs First, the tech venture capital firm he co-founded. He was appointed chair of Aria in 2022.

Clifford, 41, said the most important decisions about AI would be made by companies and governments "together". He added: "Countries everywhere want real agency over how this technology is built and used, and my job is to make Anthropic a genuine partner in that – in Europe, Asia and beyond."

An Anthropic spokesperson said the UK was "one of dozens" of governments Clifford's team would engage with.

Reactions to the appointment

The move has raised questions about the "revolving door" between government and industry, with campaign groups concerned about the influence of private sector interests on public policy. Tom Brake, chief executive of Unlock Democracy, a not-for-profit campaign group, said: "The revolving door is a problem for advisers as much as it is for ministers." He added that taking extensive knowledge gained within government about sensitive policies like AI to a private sector company shortly after leaving gives that firm an unfair advantage.

Beeban Kidron, the crossbench peer and prominent critic of the government's AI policy, said: "We need more independent politics, which puts the interests of workers, citizens and society at the forefront of our relationship with the tech sector."

However, MP Chi Onwurah, Labour chair of the science, innovation and technology committee, said Clifford had made a "significant contribution" to domestic AI policy and that movement between the public and private sector should be allowed.

Clifford's background

Before his government work, Clifford was already a well-known figure on the UK tech scene. He co-founded Entrepreneurs First, which has helped build tech companies with a combined worth of more than $20bn. His career illustrates the increasing movement of figures between UK politics and the tech industry; the former deputy prime minister Nick Clegg took a senior role at Meta in 2018, followed in recent years by Rishi Sunak taking advisory roles at Microsoft and Anthropic, and George Osborne joining OpenAI.