Former prime minister Rishi Sunak has joined Microsoft and AI start-up Anthropic as a paid adviser, after earlier returning to investment bank Goldman Sachs in a similar capacity.

Sunak, who continues to serve as a member of Parliament for Richmond and Northallerton, said in a LinkedIn post that all proceeds from the roles would be donated to a charity he founded.

The companies said the roles comply fully with the conditions set out by the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments, or Acoba, the independent body that oversees jobs by former government figures.

Restrictions

Acoba has restricted him from lobbying ministers on behalf of the companies.

Sunak is to provide strategic perspectives on macroeconomic and geopolitical trends to Microsoft and is to speak at the annual Microsoft Summit event, according to a letter of advice sent by Acoba’s interim chair Isabel Doverty to Sunak and published on the body’s website.

His role at Anthropic is to be “akin to operating as an internal think tank”, involving global strategy, macroeconomic and geopolitical trends, and not UK-specific policies, Acoba said.

Sunak has been told not to advise on bidding for UK contracts or to lobby the government for two years from his last day in ministerial office.

Anthropic and Microsoft both have significant interests in UK government policy, meaning Sunak’s appointment could be seen to offer unfair access and influence within government, Acoba noted.

But it said Sunak’s time out of government would have reduced the value of information he may still possess.

Business links

Proceeds from the appointments are to be donated to The Richmond Project, a numeracy charity founded by Sunak and his wife.

Sunak is also returning in an advisory role at Goldman Sachs, where he worked from 2001 to 2004.

It has been speculated that he would return to California to take up a role with a Silicon Valley company, but Sunak said he would be remaining in Yorkshire where his constituency is located.

Sunak is known for an international summit on artificial intelligence regulation that he initiated as prime minister in 2023.