Matthew Philip Clifford CBE[1][2] (born 1985) is a British entrepreneur. Along with Alice Bentinck, he is the co-founder of Entrepreneurs First, an international talent investor and startup accelerator founded in 2011.[3] He is the chair of the UK's Advanced Research and Invention Agency.[3]
In the spring of 2023, Clifford helped design the Frontier AI Task Force, which later became the United Kingdom's AI Safety Institute.[4] In August 2023, Clifford was appointed to lead the preparatory work for the 2023 AI Safety Summit, along with the UK's former Deputy National Security Adviser Jonathan Black.[5][6]
In December 2023, it was announced that Alice Bentinck would take over as CEO of Entrepreneurs First after Clifford stepped down from the role to concentrate on opportunities in artificial intelligence.[7]
In July 2024, Clifford announced he would lead a review of AI opportunities for the new British Labour Government.[8] Following the publication of the AI Opportunities Action Plan in January 2025, Clifford was appointed the Prime Minister’s Adviser on AI in 10 Downing Street,[9] a role from which he decided to step down in June 2025 for family reasons.[10]
References
- Matthew Philip CLIFFORD personal appointments - Find and update company information - GOV.UK find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk, retrieved 2023-12-31^
- Birthday Honours Prime Minister's List 2016 2016^
- Entrepreneur First CEO Matt Clifford on early stage talent investing McKinsey, March 2023, retrieved 2023-12-31^
- Harry Booth. TIME100 AI 2024: Matt Clifford Time, 2024-09-05, retrieved 2024-09-19^
- Paul Sandle, Martin Coulter. Britain appoints tech expert and diplomat to spearhead AI summit Reuters, 10 August 2023^
- How Matt Clifford became Britain's most powerful tech adviser POLITICO, 2023-10-30, retrieved 2023-12-31^
- Robert Scammell. Matt Clifford steps down as Entrepreneur First CEO to focus on AI UKTN, 5 December 2023^
- AI expert to lead Action Plan to ensure UK reaps the benefits of Artificial Intelligence GOV.UK, retrieved 2024-07-28^
- Appointment of Matt Clifford CBE as the AI Opportunities Adviser GOV.UK, retrieved 2025-06-01^
- Starmer's artificial intelligence adviser steps down Sky News, retrieved 2025-06-20^