Why British politicians are flocking to American tech giants

The AI endowment wars amusement nary signs of slowing, with companies making headlines play for their latest high-profile hires. This includes engineers they are poaching from each different oregon acqui-hiring but also, increasingly, elder executives that tin enactment them arsenic they standard up.

Less than 10 days aft Slack CEO Denise Dresser became OpenAI’s main gross officer, erstwhile British concern curate George Osborne announced his was joining Sam Altman’s company. Shortly thereafter, the crypto speech Coinbase separately appointed Osborne to lead its interior advisory council.

The announcements drew peculiar attraction successful the U.K., wherever commenters noted that Osborne joins a growing list of erstwhile British politicians present moving for large U.S. tech companies.

If you’re not acquainted with him oregon this trend, here’s what you request to know.

What has Osborne’s vocation looked like?

A erstwhile blimpish Member of Parliament, George Osborne served arsenic Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2010 to 2016 — a relation equivalent to that of a concern curate oregon treasury caput successful different countries, and presently held by Rachel Reeves.

After Prime Minister David Cameron resigned pursuing the 2016 Brexit vote, Osborne yet near nationalist bureau successful 2017. Alongside aggregate different engagements, including a part-time advisory relation for the concern steadfast BlackRock, helium served arsenic exertion of the Evening Standard from 2017 to 2020.

During that period, helium besides co-founded a VC firm, 9yards Capital, with his member Theo and Theo’s brother-in-law David Fisher arsenic co-founders and managing partners. Several companies successful 9yards’ portfolio person gone nationalist since past — including Robinhood, Toast, and Coinbase. 

What’s his caller relation astatine OpenAI?

Osborne announced connected X that helium was joining OpenAI “as managing manager and caput of OpenAI for [C]ountries, based present successful London.”  He volition assistance grow existing partnerships and physique caller ones, OpenAI main planetary affairs serviceman Chris Lehane wrote on LinkedIn.

Introduced successful May 2025, OpenAI for Countries is an inaugural done which the AI institution partners with governments looking to physique in-country information halfway capableness and localize ChatGPT for their connection and culture.

OpenAI for Countries is an hold of the Stargate project, a $500 cardinal inaugural done which OpenAI is presently building 5 caller information centers crossed the U.S. with Oracle and SoftBank. But beyond infrastructure, its stated extremity is to “support countries astir the satellite that would similar to physique connected antiauthoritarian AI rails.”

As OpenAI turns 10, it is lone earthy that it starts hiring the benignant of endowment that won’t get turned down astatine the Ritz for wearing athletics shoes. An Oxford postgraduate and the lad of a baronet, Osborne fits the measure — but his web and scope are adjacent much valuable, and his podcast with erstwhile Labour shadiness chancellor Ed Balls, called “Political Currency,” underscores his extended governmental connections.

His way grounds and contacts could beryllium adjacent much straight applicable for Coinbase, which helium was already advising and wherever helium volition present “play a overmuch much progressive relation successful helping america with policymakers astir the world,” the company’s main argumentation serviceman Faryar Shirzad told Reuters.

Staying connected the close broadside of regulators is peculiarly important for crypto exchanges specified arsenic Coinbase, which has been making efforts to power governments successful the U.S. and beyond. But this is besides captious for OpenAI, which intends to measurement successful arsenic AI gains a foothold successful governments’ agendas.

According to Lehane’s LinkedIn post, Osborne’s determination to instrumentality the relation “reflects a shared content that AI is becoming captious infrastructure — and aboriginal decisions astir however it’s built, governed, and deployed volition signifier economics and geopolitics for years to come.”

The signifier to watch

Osborne’s latest relation instantly drew parallels with different high-profile British politicians who went connected to articulation large U.S. tech companies. 

These see erstwhile U.K. lawman Prime Minister and Liberal Democrat person Nick Clegg, who served arsenic Meta’s argumentation main for implicit six years, and, much recently, erstwhile Prime Minister Rishi Sunak taking connected advisory roles with Microsoft and AI steadfast Anthropic.

This inclination raises antithetic concerns depending connected your perspective. Some critics interest astir progressive Members of Parliament similar Sunak perchance advocating for U.S. firm interests portion inactive serving successful government. Others instrumentality contented with erstwhile officials similar Osborne leveraging their authorities acquisition and connections to unafraid highly lucrative backstage assemblage positions.

The ‘revolving door’ improvement betwixt authorities and the backstage assemblage isn’t new. But the signifier has attracted heightened scrutiny successful Europe, particularly erstwhile arguable overseas companies — whether tech firms oregon retailers similar Shein — prosecute erstwhile government officials to assistance navigate regulations and power policy.

Seen from the different side, this is simply a substance of leveraging skills and experience. In his bio connected 9yards’ squad page, the VC steadfast touts that “George devised galore regulations that positioned the U.K. arsenic a planetary fintech leader, including the unfastened banking authorities and the FCA ‘sandbox.’”

Others, however, presumption Osborne’s vocation moves much critically. They constituent to his arguable austerity policies arsenic Chancellor, and enactment that helium has a past of morals concerns astir the revolving door. For example, erstwhile helium took the Evening Standard exertion occupation successful 2017, helium failed to question support from the government’s morals watchdog archetypal — a determination that led to the assemblage being criticized arsenic “toothless.” His cognition astatine the clip was telling: “At the property of 45, I don’t privation to walk the remainder of my beingness conscionable being an ex-chancellor,” Osborne declared.

Either way, that mindset — transitioning rapidly from nationalist work to high-paying backstage roles — is precisely what makes his OpenAI and Coinbase appointments portion of a broader signifier that concerns morals watchdogs today.