Concerns are increasing in the UK over the growing connections between politicians and the artificial intelligence industry as the government seeks to establish Britain as a global AI leader.
According to a report by Scottish newspaper The National, several current and former politicians have accepted jobs, advisory positions, hospitality, donations or other benefits from companies involved in AI and technology.
The House of Commons Science, Innovation and Technology Committee is examining the issue. Labour MP Alex Sobel warned that major technology companies could use their financial influence to weaken regulations by employing former senior government officials.
Former Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has taken advisory positions with Anthropic and Microsoft. The Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (Acoba) warned that his positions could potentially provide the companies with unfair access and influence because of his previous involvement in government policy. Sunak has been restricted from lobbying the government for Anthropic and said his work would focus internally, with his earnings donated to charity.
Former Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair’s Institute for Global Change has also advised the Treasury on using AI in government. The institute receives major funding from US technology billionaire Larry Ellison as well as companies such as Amazon and Microsoft.
Other politicians linked to the technology sector include former Chancellor George Osborne, who joined OpenAI, and former Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, who previously headed public policy at Meta and now invests in AI.
Current MP Tom Tugendhat has also accepted a paid advisory position with AI company Brox.ai. Acoba considered the risk of the position appearing to be a reward for his government work to be low but imposed restrictions, including a two-year ban on lobbying the UK government.
The scrutiny comes as reports indicate that Labour ministers have held more than 200 meetings with Silicon Valley technology companies in less than two years.
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