Former British AI Adviser Matt Clifford Joins US Firm Anthropic

Matt Clifford, a prominent technology investor who previously shaped the British government’s artificial intelligence policies, has been hired by the American AI firm Anthropic as managing director of international affairs.

In his new post at the developer of the Claude chatbot, Clifford will oversee relations with governments outside the United States, covering regions including the United Kingdom, Europe, the Asia-Pacific, and India. Anthropic stated that its international team plans to engage with dozens of foreign governments.

Clifford, 41, previously served as an unpaid AI opportunities adviser to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer after drafting a national AI action plan focused on establishing data center growth zones and domestic AI models. He stepped down from that role after six months citing personal reasons, roughly a year prior to accepting his position at Anthropic. Before that, he acted as former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s representative to the 2023 UK AI Safety Summit and assisted in founding the organization that became the AI Security Institute.

Despite his new corporate post, Clifford will remain chair of the Advanced Research and Invention Agency (Aria), a British government-backed body funding high-risk research projects. He will step back from any Aria matter involving Anthropic. He will also stay on as chair of Entrepreneurs First, a venture capital firm he co-founded whose portfolio companies have achieved a combined value exceeding $20 billion.

Anthropic is currently preparing for a stock exchange flotation that could value the business at $2 trillion.

The appointment has drawn scrutiny from campaign groups and lawmakers over the movement of former advisers into the private sector. Tom Brake, chief executive of the non-profit group Unlock Democracy, stated that transferring government knowledge to a private company shortly after leaving office gives that business “a huge advantage.” Chi Onwurah, chair of the parliament’s science, innovation and technology committee, noted that while movement between sectors should be allowed, taking domestic expertise to a global corporate player so quickly raised “some concern.”

Addressing the role, Clifford said the most critical choices regarding technology would be made by tech companies and public authorities “together.” Anthropic defended the decision, noting that its work requires hiring experts who understand government function.

Background

The movement of former government figures into major technology firms reflects an established pattern between political centers and Silicon Valley. Former British Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg took a senior executive role at Meta in 2018, while former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak accepted advisory positions at Microsoft and Anthropic, and former Chancellor George Osborne joined OpenAI.

Clifford’s hiring arrives as governments globally attempt to balance the regulation of advanced AI technologies with national initiatives to develop domestic computing infrastructure and sovereign technological capabilities.