One of the foremost advisers to Downing Street in recent years on issues of artificial intelligence is to now work for a major tech firm and supplier to the government
Downing Street’s former top adviser on artificial intelligence and the architect of current UK strategy on AI has taken on a senior role at tech giant Anthropic, it has emerged.
Matt Clifford (pictured above) also served as chair of the government’s Advance Research and Invention Agency – a role he initially said he intended to keep while undertaking his new role at the leading tech firm.
However, he has now indicated he will leave this position. His departure, which will come on 6 November after a handover period in which Clifford said “appropriate safeguards” will be put in place, comes after Dame Chi Onwurah, chair of parliament’s Science, Innovation and Technology Committee, warned that the AI bigwig’s new role would create “clear conflicts of interest” with his position at Aria.
The agency, which is sponsored by the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Technology, was set up in 2022 to fund high-risk programmes that “push the boundaries of science and technology”.
Last week, when news of Clifford’s new role was announced, Science, Innovation and Technology Committee chair Onwurah praised Clifford’s “significant contribution” to the development AI policy. Nevertheless, she expressed reservations about his move to Anthropic while retaining his role at Aria.
“While it is a matter of some concern that he is taking his knowledge, experience and government contacts to a leading global AI company, this is entirely within the rules, and we would not want to discourage movement between the public and private sectors,” Onwurah said in a statement. “However, his intention to remain as chair of Aria, which invests taxpayer money in cutting-edge research – much of its AI-related or AI-enabled – creates a clear conflict of interest.”
She added: “The committee looks forward to the AI minister setting out robust safeguards and clear boundaries to ensure confidence in Aria’s independence.”
After such concerns were raised, Clifford yesterday announced that “I have decided to step down to ensure my new role at Anthropic doesn’t become a distraction from Aria’s incredible work”.
Onwurah welcomed the news, stating that “it’s right that the conflict of interest between the taxpayer-funded Aria and Anthropic has been addressed through Matt Clifford’s decision to step down as Aria’s chair”.
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She added: “However, important questions remain. Last week, I wrote to the government seeking clarity on how this situation arose, what conflict of interest assessments were undertaken and what safeguards are in place to protect confidence in ARIA’s governance. I expect a detailed response in the upcoming weeks.”
Alongside his work at the invention agency, then-prime minister Rishi Sunak made Clifford his representative for the AI Security Summit in 2023. The tech entrepreneur was subsequently appointed to write the UK’s national AI strategy by the Starmer administration and went on to become No.10’s adviser on AI opportunities.
Clifford only served in the adviser role for six months. He stood down for “personal reasons” in July 2025.
Writing on LinkedIn last week, Clifford said he is joining Anthropic as managing director for international affairs, “leading the company’s work with governments outside North America”. Clifford’s LinkedIn timeline suggests he has already started in post at Anthropic, which is responsible for the Claude family of large-language models. Claude underpins the GOV.UK Chat tool.
“I’ve spent the last few years working on some of the big questions that AI poses to governments and countries,” Clifford said. “It’s clear that the decisions that will shape AI’s impact shouldn’t be made by any one actor – it will take industry, governments and civil society working together. People everywhere want real agency over how this technology is built and used in their societies, and they should have it. Anthropic takes that seriously, which is why I’m joining.”
Clifford said he will be based in London and expects to work with governments “across Europe, Asia-Pacific and beyond” in his new role.
He added that he has got to know Anthropic chief global affairs officer Tino Cuéllar over the last three years and is “excited to join his team and to work closely with Dario, Daniela and Anthropic’s leadership to bring the benefits of AI to the world”.