The UK has appointed a former OpenAI leader as its new AI advisor to the prime minister, as the country looks to roll out a wave of measures to boost its technical capabilities.
The job has been vacant since Entrepreneurs First founder Matt Clifford stepped back from the role in July, after authoring the government’s grand AI plan.
Jade Leung will split her time between her current role as CTO at the AI Security Institute — the state-backed body aiming to ensure the safety of advanced AI models — and Number 10, reporting into the PM as well as tech minister Peter Kyle.
The UK government said in a statement: “As part of the role, she will work to position the UK as the leading nation to help unlock the benefits and prepare for the impacts of transformative AI.”
It added that Leung would work closely with the PM to “harness the technology as it delivers the strong foundations and economic growth which are central to the government’s Plan for Change”.
Leung previously worked at OpenAI for nearly three years, including at governance lead. She holds a doctor of philosophy on AI governance from the University of Oxford.
AI advisor to the PM is considered an influential role in the UK government, which will play a key part as the country scrambles to bolster its AI capabilities.
Previously, Clifford authored the government’s AI opportunities action plan, which outlines how the UK plans to invest in, and use, AI. It laid out 50 measures to boost the country’s AI potential — all of which the government said it will take forward.
In recent months the UK announced a £2bn pledge for that plan, including £1bn prime minister Keir Starmer to be spent on building out AI compute by 2030 and another £750m for a new national supercomputer confirmed on Wednesday.
In June Nvidia’s Jensen Huang criticised the UK as the largest AI ecosystem in the world without its own infrastructure.
