Rishi Sunak has taken on part-time advisory roles with both Microsoft and Anthropic, positioning himself at the centre of two of the most consequential names in artificial intelligence.

The former UK prime minister brings considerable government experience to both briefs, spanning economics, international affairs and technology policy. His work across the two roles will focus on geopolitics, technology and economic strategy and will not involve lobbying the UK government. Sunak will continue to serve as a Member of Parliament, with both appointments subject to review under the rules governing former ministers taking outside positions.

According to a post on Instagram, he has also pledged to donate his earnings from both roles to The Richmond Project, the education charity he co-founded with Akshata Murty.

The dual appointments sit within a broader pattern of technology companies recruiting senior political figures as AI becomes more tightly bound to questions of national security, regulatory frameworks and international competitiveness. For Microsoft and Anthropic, Sunak’s Downing Street experience and his record on technology policy offer something that most corporate advisers cannot: direct familiarity with the decisions governments are already being pressed to make on AI.

The source material does not specify the precise terms or duration of either appointment and provenance remains uncertain pending wider corroboration. What is clear is the direction of travel: as the line between AI governance and geopolitics continues to blur, former heads of government are finding that their accumulated policy knowledge carries real commercial value in the technology sector.