Former Chancellor George Osborne is joining OpenAI to assist in the bot developer’s relationships with governments around the world.
OpenAI, known for creating ChatGPT, will bring Osborne on as the lead of the OpenAI for Countries division, which will facilitate the AI company’s international relationships.
The former Conservative politician has held similarly high-profile positions, including being chair of the British Museum, editor of the Standard, an advisor to cryptocurrency platform Coinbase and the host of a podcast alongside former Labour minister Ed Balls.
Osborne will be leaving his current role as senior managing director at Evercore, which took over investment bank Robey Warshaw in July.
The former minister will be based in London for the role.
This marks another high-profile signing from big US tech corporations, indicating their ongoing commitment to integrating AI with national governance. Former PM Rishi Sunak revealed in October that he was taking on an advisory position at another AI giant, Anthropic.
Other firms, including Microsoft, Google, and Palantir, have been lobbying for the British government to adopt AI technology.
Osborne has shared his enthusiasm for his new post at the $500 billion firm, which he said was “the most exciting and promising company in the world right now”.
“In my conversations with Sam Altman, Brad Lightcap, OpenAI’s chief executive and chief operating officer, and other senior colleagues, it’s clear they are exceptionally impressive leaders and that they care very deeply about their mission to ensure the power of artificial intelligence is developed responsibly, and the benefits are felt by all,” he said.
“That’s exactly what the OpenAI for Countries initiative intends to achieve, helping societies around the world share the opportunity this powerful technology brings.”
This comes as OpenAI continues to defend itself amidst multiple lawsuits, which raise questions about the ethical impact of its chatbots.
Chris Lehane, the chief global affairs officer of OpenAI, said bringing Osborne on board “reflects a shared belief that AI is becoming critical infrastructure – and early decisions about how it’s built, governed, and deployed will shape economics and geopolitics for years to come”.
