The chair of the UK’s Advanced Research and Invention Agency (Aria), Matt Clifford, has resigned days after announcing that he is taking up a full-time role at the US tech firm Anthropic. Concerns had been raised that Clifford’s new job at the company behind the Claude AI models could represent a significant conflict of interest.
Clifford, who had a background in tech commercialisation and had served on the council of Innovate UK, was appointed as Aria’s first chairperson in July 2022. More recently Clifford had served as former prime minister Keir Starmer’s AI opportunities adviser, devising the government’s AI action plan, which led to the establishment of the £500 million Sovereign AI Fund this year.
On 2 September, Clifford announced on social media that he was joining Anthropic as it’s managing director for international affairs, a position that would involve leading the company’s work with governments outside North America. Initially, Clifford has stated that he planned to stay on as Aria’s chair.
However, this decision drew immediate criticism. ‘[Clifford’s] intention to remain as chair of Aria, which invests taxpayer money in cutting-edge research – much of it AI-related or AI-enabled – creates a clear conflict of interest,’ observed House of Commons science committee chair Chi Onwurah.
On Monday 7 September, Clifford announced that he would now step down from Aria to make sure his work with Anthropic ‘doesn’t become a distraction’. According to Clifford’s post, he will continue as chair until 6 November while the new Department of Business Innovation Science and Technology starts a process to hire his replacement.
Onwurah said that it was right that the conflict of interest had been addressed, but noted that important questions remain. ‘Last week, I wrote to the government seeking clarity on how this situation arose, what conflict of interest assessments were undertaken and what safeguards are in place to protect confidence in Aria’s governance,’ she said. ‘I expect a detailed response in the upcoming weeks.’
