OpenAI Hires Former UK Treasury Chief to Lead ‘OpenAI for Countries’ Initiative

OpenAI has hired former U.K. Treasury chief George Osborne to lead the artificial intelligence (AI) startup’s work with governments.

Osborne will join the company as “Head of OpenAI for Countries” and “lead our work helping governments build for the future with AI,” OpenAI Chief Operating Officer Brad Lightcap said in a Tuesday (Dec. 16) post on X.

“We increasingly hear from countries wanting to understand how AI fits into their economic strategy and ability to serve citizens in domains like healthcare, education and more,” Lightcap said.

In his own post on X announcing the move, Osborne said that he will be based in London and that he believes OpenAI is “the most exciting and promising company in the world.”

“In my conversations with [OpenAI CEO] Sam Altman, Brad Lightcap and other senior colleagues, it’s clear they are exceptionally impressive leaders and that they care very deeply about their mission to ensure the power of artificial intelligence is developed responsibly, and the benefits are felt by all,” Osborne said. “That’s exactly what the OpenAI for Countries initiative intends to achieve, helping societies around the world share the opportunity this powerful technology brings.”

Osborne is co-host of a podcast called “Political Currency” and chair of the British Museum, Bloomberg reported Tuesday.

The Financial Times reported Tuesday that Osborne stepped down as a Conservative member of parliament in 2017, edited the Evening Standard newspaper from 2017 to 2020, was an adviser to BlackRock until 2021, was a partner at boutique investment bank Robey Warshaw, and is an adviser to Coinbase.

OpenAI announced OpenAI for Countries in May, saying this initiative aims to support countries that want to “build on democratic AI rails.”

The company said in a press release that it launched the initiative after hearing from countries that wanted its help building out AI infrastructure after they saw the announcement of the Stargate project in the United States.

OpenAI for Countries involves partnering with countries to build data centers, providing customized ChatGPT to their citizens, continuing to evolve security and safety protocols for AI models, raising a national startup fund to support national AI ecosystems, and expanding the global Stargate project, according to the release.

“We want to help these countries, and in the process, spread democratic AI, which means the development, use and deployment of AI that protects and incorporates long-standing democratic principles,” OpenAI said in the release.