Former Prime Minister's Lucrative AI Advisory Position Unveiled
Rishi Sunak's new advisory position with a California-based artificial intelligence company has been revealed to be worth an astonishing £4.5 million annually, according to the latest register of MPs' financial interests. The former Conservative prime minister is earning the equivalent of £373,000 per month as a senior adviser at Anthropic, the San Francisco-headquartered AI startup that has developed the Claude AI models.
Charitable Donations and Limited Time Commitment
Remarkably, Mr Sunak will be donating the entirety of these substantial earnings to The Richmond Project charity, which he established with his wife Akshata Murty to enhance numeracy skills across all age groups. The financial disclosure shows he took on the role in September for a twelve-month period, during which he will devote just seventy hours of work to the AI firm. His remuneration consists of 3,547 shares over the year, calculated at the staggering monthly value.
Post-Premiership Career Moves in Technology Sector
Since departing Downing Street following the 2024 general election defeat, the former Tory leader has cultivated multiple high-profile positions within the technology and financial sectors. In addition to the Anthropic role, Mr Sunak has taken on advisory positions with Stanford University, Goldman Sachs, and Microsoft, demonstrating his continued engagement with major institutions at the intersection of technology, finance, and academia.
His post-political career has also included a newspaper column with the Sunday Times and earnings of approximately £750,000 from speaking engagements across the United States, India, and South Korea. These developments follow widespread speculation that Mr Sunak would relocate to California, where he initially met his wife, after his election defeat.
Constituency Commitment and AI Policy Background
During his final Prime Minister's Questions appearance as Conservative leader, Mr Sunak made a pointed commitment to his Yorkshire constituency, declaring he would spend more time 'in the greatest place on Earth' and adding 'If anyone needs me, I will be in Yorkshire.' This statement appears to counter speculation about permanent relocation to the United States.
The former prime minister's move into AI advisory work aligns with his governmental focus on technology regulation during his premiership from October 2022 to July 2024. Mr Sunak made tech regulation a significant priority while in office, notably hosting an AI safety summit at Bletchley Park in November 2023 that brought together international experts and policymakers.
Strategic Vision for Technological Transformation
When announcing his roles with Anthropic and Microsoft in October last year, Mr Sunak articulated his vision on LinkedIn, stating: 'I have long believed that technology will transform our world and play a key part in determining our future. I am excited to help these two companies, as they address the big strategic questions about how to make tech work for our economies, our security and our society.'
He further elaborated on the scale of technological change, noting: 'We stand on the edge of a technological revolution whose impacts will be as profound as those of the industrial revolution: and felt more quickly. In my role as a senior adviser, I want to help these companies ensure that this shift delivers the improvements in all of our lives that it can.'
Anthropic, founded by former members of OpenAI (the developers of ChatGPT), represents a significant player in the competitive AI landscape, making Mr Sunak's advisory position particularly noteworthy given his political background in technology policy and regulation.
