Eternally underwhelming former Tory PM Rishi Sunak is set to start two advisory roles for tech firms. Sunak, whose main accolade is single-handedly ruining Adidas Samba’s for the entire population of earth, is still a sitting MP:
Rishi Sunak has taken up advisory roles at tech giant Microsoft and artificial intelligence start-up Anthropic.
However, the BBC reported Sunak had been told:
He must not lobby ministers on behalf of the companies by the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (ACOBA), an independent watchdog which oversees the activities of former government figures.
ACOBA said both businesses had major interests in the UK.
I have long believed that technology will transform our world and play a key part in determining our future.
We stand on the edge of a technological revolution whose impacts will be as profound as those of the industrial revolution: and felt more quickly.
Rishi Sunak: stitching up the workers
Sunak has strident friend of AI and tech firms, less so of workers. The Canary reported in 2024 that the Tories had been determinedly dodging accountability over the implications of AI on working people.
A government consultation on this specific issue drew a fiery response from the Trade Union Congress (TUC):
AI is already make life-changing decisions about the way we work – like how people are hired, performance-managed and even fired. That’s why we need employment-specific legislation to ensure AI is used fairly in the workplace.
But the government is still ducking this issue by refusing to pass new laws and to give workers and business the certainty they need. A minimalist approach to regulating AI is not going cut it. It will just leave many at risk of exploitation and discrimination.
And the TUC has since developed advice on AI and its implication for work. It is also currently carrying a four year project to study how AI will influence labour.
The Congress believes that the “…more say workers have in how technology is used at work, the more rewarding and productive the world of work will become for us all”.
We know whose side we’re on.
Featured image via the Canary
By Joe Glenton
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