Rishi Sunak joins Microsoft and Anthropic in senior advisory roles, donating all proceeds to charity.
Intel debuts Panther Lake, its first chip on the 18A process, with 50% faster performance and 180 TOPS of AI power.
Anthropic pays UK staff £560,000 on average as it scales rapidly.
All that and more. Let’s dive in…
DRIVING THE CONVERSATION TODAY
Sunak takes advisory roles at Microsoft and Anthropic
Former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has joined Microsoft and AI firm Anthropic in senior advisory capacities, focusing on global strategy and geopolitical trends.
The roles, approved by the UK’s Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (ACOBA), are part-time, non-lobbying, and barred from using insider government information for two years.
Sunak confirmed on LinkedIn that all earnings will go to The Richmond Project, the charity he co-founded with Akshata Murty. The move follows his return to Goldman Sachs in an advisory role, the latest chapter in his post-political tech pivot.
Intel’s Panther Lake chips mark 18A manufacturing milestone
Six months into CEO Lip-Bu Tan’s turnaround, Intel has unveiled Panther Lake, the first processors built on its cutting-edge 18A semiconductor process at its new Fab 52 in Arizona.
Key specs:
- Up to 16 CPU cores (Cougar Cove P-cores + Darkmont E-cores)
- 4 or 12 Xe GPU cores, 96 GB LPDDR5 memory
- NPU 5 delivering 50 TOPS of AI performance (180 TOPS total across CPU/GPU/NPU)
- Thunderbolt 4, Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, PCIe Gen 5
Panther Lake will debut at CES 2026, promising 50%+ faster CPU/GPU performance over prior gen. Intel also previewed Xeon 6+ “Clearwater Forest”, its first 18A server chip, due early 2026.
The push aligns with the U.S. government’s 10% equity stake in Intel following Tan’s meeting with President Trump to revive domestic chipmaking.
Anthropic pays UK staff £560K average amid aggressive expansion
AI safety leader Anthropic is spending big to build its UK team. New filings show staff costs jumped from £3.6M to £24M in 2024 as headcount grew from 6 to 43, averaging £560,000 per employee.
Turnover hit £29.5M, with pre-tax profit of £2.6M. The firm, valued at $183B, has hired the core team from London startup HumanLoop and is deepening its focus on AI safety and developer tooling.
CEO Dario Amodei warned this week that AI could eliminate half of all entry-level white-collar jobs within five years.
FUNDING FLASH
Sitehop raises £7.5M for quantum-safe encryption
Sheffield cybersecurity startup Sitehop has secured £7.5 million led by Northern Gritstone, bringing total funding to £13.5M.
Its SAFEseries platform uses hardware-based encryption to deliver ultra-low latency, high-speed data protection at a fraction of traditional energy use. Already deployed with a tier-one telco across five countries and trialed at BT’s Gemini facility, the tech is designed to be quantum-resilient.
Backers include Amadeus Capital, Mercia Ventures, Manta Ray, and the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund. Northern Gritstone CEO Duncan Johnson called it a “game-changing” example of deep tech from the North.
EQUALLY IMPORTANT
Ofcom finds no red flags in Openreach’s fiber discount
The UK telecom regulator said Openreach’s new fiber upgrade discount, letting ISPs pay the cheaper 80/20 Mbps rate while delivering full-fiber speeds, does not currently harm competition.
Rivals had argued the scheme undercut fair pricing, but Ofcom found rates remain above efficient cost levels and apply only to limited proactive upgrades. Final rules expected by March 2026, with ongoing monitoring.
Google, NatWest, and DBT launch AI tour for SMEs
A new initiative, AI Works for Business, will tour Manchester, Leeds, Edinburgh, and Cardiff to help SMEs adopt AI tools. This responds to a survey showing 59% of owners have shelved ideas due to lack of time.
Research suggests AI could boost SME productivity by 20%, equivalent to an extra workday per week, unlocking £198bn in national value. The program includes Google’s “10 Stories” ad campaign, spotlighting businesses using Gemini + Workspace.
WORTH NOTING
JP Morgan’s Dimon warns of AI bubble within two years
CEO Jamie Dimon told an audience in Bournemouth he’s “far more worried than others” about an AI-driven market crash. While AI “is real and will pay off,” he warned much of today’s investment “will probably be lost.”
His comments echo the Bank of England’s FPC, which flagged extreme S&P 500 concentration, 30% held by five firms, a 50-year high, as reminiscent of the dot-com bubble.
Eric Schmidt: AI models can be hacked to bypass safety rules
Speaking at the Sifted Summit, former Google CEO Eric Schmidt said hackers can strip AI of guardrails via prompt injection or jailbreaking. “A bad example would be they learn how to kill someone,” he warned.
Still, he called AI “underhyped” and one of humanity’s most transformative technologies, just not immune to misuse.
ALD fined €5M in Italy over unclear damage charges
UK car leasing firm ALD was penalized by Italy’s competition authority for failing to clearly explain terms of an optional damage-waiver service. The €5 million fine stems from what regulators called an “unfair commercial practice.”
Thanks for reading
