OpenAI hires George Osborne to spearhead global ‘Stargate’ expansion

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OpenAI has hired former UK chancellor George Osborne to lead the start-up’s work building “democratic” artificial intelligence for the world.

The architect of the former Conservative government’s austerity programme is set to play a key role within the high-spending company as the head of OpenAI for Countries, an overseas expansion of the $500bn “Stargate” initiative to build data centres in the US.

The ChatGPT maker has billed Stargate as a way to ensure American companies and values are at the foundation of the international build-out of AI, providing a bulwark against Chinese alternatives.

“I asked myself the question: what’s the most exciting and promising company in the world right now? The answer I believe is OpenAI,” said Osborne, adding his work would help “societies around the world share the opportunity this powerful technology brings.”

Chris Lehane, OpenAI’s chief global affairs officer, likened OpenAI for Countries to the creation of the modern monetary system.

“We are in a Bretton Woods moment,” said Lehane. “In 1944, democratic nations came together to create a financial system based on democratic values. We’re now at a similar moment with the laying of the AI rails.”

OpenAI’s move for Osborne follows rival AI start-up Anthropic’s appointment of Rishi Sunak, another former Conservative chancellor and prime minister, as an adviser in October.

Stargate was announced at the start of this year by OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman and partners including SoftBank chief Masayoshi Son and Oracle’s Larry Ellison at a White House event.

The initiative was lauded by President Donald Trump as “a resounding declaration of confidence in America’s potential under a new president”.

The Financial Times reported that OpenAI was considering expanding Stargate beyond the US in April, with OpenAI for Countries launched a month later.

OpenAI has since struck deals in the UK and the United Arab Emirates and the company said it was in conversation with 50 countries about helping them develop “sovereign AI”.

The company has said those deals will help to ensure that “democratic principles” including free speech, free markets and the prevention of mass government data collection are built into the technology.

Stargate is also at the centre of OpenAI’s efforts to create AI infrastructure that can power its future growth.

But lossmaking OpenAI and its partners must raise enormous sums to fund the sites, fuelling concerns of a financial bubble inflating around the rapid build-out of data centres.

Osborne will start his new job in January and be based in London. The role adds to an expansive portfolio of jobs held by Osborne since he stepped down as a Conservative member of parliament in 2017.

The 54-year-old edited the Evening Standard newspaper from 2017 to 2020 and was an adviser to investment group BlackRock until 2021.

That same year he took a role as a partner at boutique investment bank Robey Warshaw, which was acquired by Evercore earlier this year. Osborne pocketed little of the windfall from the takeover, the FT previously reported, and is now leaving his role at Evercore.

“George has made a significant contribution to the life and business of Robey Warshaw, and I am confident he will bring the same impact to OpenAI,” said Sir Simon Robey, a founding partner of Robey Warshaw.

Osborne recently lost out in the selection process to become HSBC’s new chair, with the bank’s board instead choosing its interim chair Brendan Nelson this month.

Osborne is the current chair of the British Museum, co-presenter of the Political Currency podcast with Ed Balls and a visiting fellow and lecturer in management at Stanford University. He is an adviser to the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, where Lehane also serves on the board.