Why are British politicians flocking to US tech giants?

The AI ​​talent wars show no signs of slowing down, with companies making headlines weekly for their latest high-profile hires. This includes engineers who poach or hire each other, but also, increasingly, senior executives who can support them as they scale.

Less than 10 days after Slack CEO Dennis Dresser took over as OpenAI’s chief revenue officer, former UK finance minister George Osborne announced he was joining Sam Altman’s company. Shortly thereafter, cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase separately appointed Osborne to lead its internal advisory board.

The announcements have drawn particular attention in the UK, where commentators have pointed out that Osborne joins a growing list of former British politicians who now work for major US tech companies.

If you’re not familiar with him or this trend, here’s what you need to know.

What did Osbourne’s career look like?

George Osborne, a former Conservative MP, served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2010 to 2016 – a role equivalent to Chancellor of the Exchequer or Chancellor of the Exchequer in other countries, and is currently held by Rachel Reeves.

Following Prime Minister David Cameron’s resignation following the 2016 Brexit vote, Osborne eventually left public office in 2017. Along with numerous other duties, including a part-time advisory role for investment firm BlackRock, Osborne served as editor of the Evening Standard from 2017 to 2020.

During that period, he also co-founded a venture capital firm, 9yards Capital, with his brother Theo and Theo’s brother-in-law David Fisher as co-founders and managing partners. Several companies in 9yards’ portfolio have since gone public — including Robinhood, Toast, and Coinbase.

What is his new role at OpenAI?

Osborne announced on [C]countries and headquartered here in London.” It will help expand existing partnerships and build new ones, Chris Lehane, chief global affairs officer at OpenAI, wrote on LinkedIn.

Introduced in May 2025, OpenAI for Country is an initiative through which the AI ​​company partners with governments looking to build data center capacity within a country and localize ChatGPT to its language and culture.

OpenAI for Countries is an extension of Project Stargate, a $500 billion initiative through which OpenAI is currently building five new data centers across the US with Oracle and SoftBank. But beyond infrastructure, its stated goal is to “support countries around the world that prefer to build on the rails of democratic AI.”

As OpenAI turns 10, it’s only natural that it will start recruiting the kind of talent that wouldn’t be turned away at the Ritz for wearing sneakers. Osborne, an Oxford graduate and son of a baron, fits the bill – but his network and reach are even more valuable, and his podcast with former Labor shadow chancellor Ed Balls, called Political Currency, underscores his extensive political connections.

Faryar Sherzad, the company’s chief policy officer, told Reuters that his record and connections could be more directly relevant to Coinbase, which he was already advising and where he will now play a more active role in helping us with policymakers around the world.

Staying on the right side of regulators is especially important for cryptocurrency exchanges like Coinbase, which are making efforts to influence governments in the U.S. and beyond. But this is also crucial for OpenAI, which intends to make an impact as AI gains a foothold on governments’ agendas.

According to Lehane’s LinkedIn post, Osborne’s decision to take on the role “reflects a shared belief that AI has become critical infrastructure — and early decisions about how to build, manage, and deploy it will shape economics and geopolitics for years to come.”

Style to watch

Osborne’s latest role immediately drew parallels with other prominent British politicians who have joined major US tech companies.

These include former UK Deputy Prime Minister and Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg, who served as head of policy at Meta for more than six years and, more recently, former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, has taken on advisory roles with Microsoft and AI company Anthropic.

This trend raises different concerns depending on your point of view. Some critics worry that active members of parliament like Sunak may defend the interests of American companies while serving in government. Others disagree with former officials like Osborne who leverage their experience and government connections to secure highly lucrative positions in the private sector.

The phenomenon of the “revolving door” between government and the private sector is not new. But the practice has attracted increasing scrutiny in Europe, especially when controversial foreign companies — whether tech companies or retailers like Shein — hire former government officials to help navigate regulations and influence policy.

On the other hand, it is simply a matter of leveraging skills and experience. In his bio on the 9yards team page, the venture capital firm notes that “George pioneered many of the regulations that positioned the UK as a global leader in fintech, including open banking and the FCA’s ‘sandbox’.”

But others view Osbourne’s career moves more critically. They point to his controversial austerity policies as chancellor, and suggest he has a history of ethical concerns about the revolving door. For example, when he took the job of editor of the Evening Standard in 2017, he failed to first get approval from the government’s ethics watchdog – a move that led to criticism of the body as “toothless”. His position at the time was clear: “At the age of 45, I don’t want to spend the rest of my life just as a former chancellor,” Osborne declared.

Either way, it’s this mentality — moving quickly from public service to high-paying private roles — that makes his appointments at OpenAI and Coinbase part of a broader pattern that concerns ethics watchdogs today.