From Downing Street to Anthropic: Entrepreneur First co-founder Matt Clifford joins Claude maker
Tech Funding News Sofia Chesnokova
Matt Clifford is joining Anthropic as managing director for international affairs. It’s stirring fresh talk about the UK’s revolving door into AI.
Based on reporting by Tech Funding News, Sofia Chesnokova — read the original for the full story.
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Matt Clifford is moving from government-adjacent roles into Anthropic, where he’ll be managing director for international affairs. Based in London, he’ll handle the company’s dealings with governments outside North America, including the UK, Europe, the Asia-Pacific region and India.
The appointment is already drawing heat in the UK. Clifford has spent the past three years advising two prime ministers on AI, and critics see his move as another example of the revolving door between Whitehall and the AI sector. Anthropic is also getting ready for a possible IPO, which makes the hire feel less like a surprise than a sign of what comes next.
Clifford has been in the thick of UK AI policy for a while. He became chair of ARIA in 2022, represented Rishi Sunak at the AI Safety Summit at Bletchley Park in 2023, and was then asked by Keir Starmer in January 2025 to prepare the government’s AI opportunities action plan. He resigned that advisory role at the end of July 2025, after six months, for personal reasons.
He’s not walking away from his other posts. Clifford will stay chair of both ARIA and Entrepreneurs First, the company he co-founded with Alice Bentinck in 2011. That firm’s portfolio is now said to be worth more than $20 billion. At Anthropic, he’ll report to Mariano-Florentino “Tino” Cuéllar, the company’s first chief global affairs officer, and work with Dario Amodei and Daniela Amodei as Anthropic continues toward public markets.
My take — AI-written commentary, not fact-checked reporting
This is exactly the sort of hire AI companies make when they want regulators to see a familiar face instead of a moving target. The revolving door never stops spinning; it just gets a nicer badge and a better office in London. If that looks tidy, it’s because everyone involved knows how useful the old club can be.
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