Rishi Sunak denies he's planning secret new career after Downing Street

01 November 2023 , 21:04

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Rishi Sunak is hosting a conference on the safety of Artificial Intelligence (Image: AFP via Getty Images)

Rishi Sunak has denied he’s preparing for a secret new career after Downing Street. The PM is struggling in the polls as he looks set to lead the Conservatives to defeat at the next election.

Now he has been forced to dismiss rumours he is plotting a change in career. Mr Sunak is welcoming world leaders and tech bosses for a summit on Artificial Intelligence at Bletchley Park in Buckinghamshire.

But as the gathering kicked off, he shot down suggestions that he is hoping it will help him get a job when he finishes as PM. Asked if AI is his next career move, Mr Sunak told BBC News: “No. This is about doing what is right in the long term interests of this country and that's what I'm about as Prime Minister.

“I want to make the right long term decisions which are not always easy and an example of that is just taking on the challenge of bringing this summit together. It hadn't been done before. No one had thought to bring this number of people together to discuss these risks, to focus on it.”

Representatives from the USA, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Singapore and China are attending the gathering aimed at laying the groundwork for the safe use of artificial intelligence. Neither US President Joe Biden nor French President Emmanuel Macron will be there, but Downing Street has denied the gathering is being snubbed by world leaders. Vice President Kamala Harris will represent the USA at the summit in place of Mr Biden.

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Elon Musk, the Tesla CEO and owner of the social media site X, will also attend and join the Prime Minister for a live interview after the summit closes on Thursday. Mr Musk, a co-founder of OpenAI - the company behind the popular ChatGPT tool - has previously expressed concerns about the possibility of AI becoming hostile towards humans.

Mr Sunak has been the MP for Richmond in North Yorkshire since 2015. Before entering politics he worked as a banker at Goldman Sachs. The PM and his wife are the richest inhabitants of Downing Street in history with an estimated £520milllion fortune, according to the Sunday Times Rich List.

Much of their wealth is thanks to the £481million stake Ms Murty holds in Infosys The couple’s property empire includes their £7million London home in Kensington, a £1.5million manor house in his North Yorkshire constituency that has its own indoor swimming pool, and a £5.5 million penthouse overlooking the beach in Santa Monica, California.

John Stevens