Rishi Sunak Joins Microsoft & Anthropic As Advisor, Pledges Earnings To Charity

India-West News Desk

PALO ALTO, CA – Former UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has accepted advisory positions with Microsoft and the artificial intelligence start-up Anthropic. The BBC reported that Sunak said he was “delighted” to work with “two of the world’s leading tech firms” and would donate all proceeds from these roles to The Richmond Project — a charity he founded with his wife to tackle numeracy challenges across the UK.

Sunak, who continues to serve as the MP for Richmond and Northallerton, has been formally cleared for the new appointments by the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (Acoba). The watchdog, which monitors post-government jobs for former ministers, instructed him not to lobby UK ministers or offer advice on government contracts for two years.

Both companies have “significant interests in UK government policy,” Acoba warned, meaning Sunak’s involvement could raise concerns about potential “unfair access and influence.” However, the committee added that the former prime minister’s time away from office had diminished the relevance of any confidential information he once held.

Sunak, who served as prime minister from October 2022 to July 2024, made AI regulation a hallmark of his leadership — including convening the UK’s first AI Safety Summit in 2023. The BBC noted that his recent appointments mark a continuation of his engagement with technology and innovation policy, though now from the private sector.

In addition to his work with Microsoft and Anthropic, Sunak was recently named a paid adviser to Goldman Sachs, where he began his career in the early 2000s.

The BBC also recalled that before entering British politics, Sunak lived and worked in California’s Silicon Valley — where he and his family still own a home — and held a U.S. visa until 2021. While there was speculation he might return to the U.S. tech scene after leaving office, Sunak told Parliament he planned to stay closer to his Yorkshire constituency, calling it “the greatest place on Earth.”