Matt Clifford, the tech investor who drafted the UK government's AI action plan and advised both Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer, has joined US AI firm Anthropic as managing director for international affairs, a year after leaving his Downing Street role. In the new post he will lead Anthropic's engagement with governments outside the US, including in the UK, Europe, Asia-Pacific and India. The appointment has reignited debate over the "revolving door" between government and the tech industry, with critics questioning whether former advisers should move so quickly into private roles connected to the policy areas they once shaped.

Clifford, 41, resigned as Starmer's unpaid AI opportunities adviser six months after his appointment, citing personal reasons, and will keep his chair roles at the government-backed Aria research agency and at Entrepreneurs First, the venture firm he co-founded. Anthropic, which is preparing for a stock market flotation potentially valuing it at $2tn (£1.5tn), said the UK was just "one of dozens" of governments his team would deal with. Campaigners including Unlock Democracy's Tom Brake and peer Beeban Kidron voiced concern about advisers taking government knowledge into industry, while Labour MP Chi Onwurah said his move was of "some concern" despite his "significant contribution" to UK AI policy, following similar transitions by Nick Clegg, Rishi Sunak and George Osborne into major tech firms.