Matt Clifford

Matthew Philip Clifford CBE
Born	November 1985
Occupation	Entrepreneur
Known for	Entrepreneur First and Code First Girls co-founder
Website	www.matthewclifford.com

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

1. "Matthew Philip CLIFFORD personal appointments - Find and update company information - GOV.UK". find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk. Retrieved 2023-12-31.
2. "Birthday Honours Prime Minister's List 2016" (PDF). 2016.
3. "Entrepreneur First CEO Matt Clifford on early stage talent investing". McKinsey. March 2023. Retrieved 2023-12-31.
4. Booth, Harry (2024-09-05). "TIME100 AI 2024: Matt Clifford". Time. Retrieved 2024-09-19.
5. Sandle, Paul; Coulter, Martin (10 August 2023). "Britain appoints tech expert and diplomat to spearhead AI summit". Reuters. Archived from the original on 10 August 2023.
6. "How Matt Clifford became Britain's most powerful tech adviser". POLITICO. 2023-10-30. Retrieved 2023-12-31.
7. Scammell, Robert (5 December 2023). "Matt Clifford steps down as Entrepreneur First CEO to focus on AI". UKTN.
8. "AI expert to lead Action Plan to ensure UK reaps the benefits of Artificial Intelligence". GOV.UK. Retrieved 2024-07-28.
9. "Appointment of Matt Clifford CBE as the AI Opportunities Adviser". GOV.UK. Retrieved 2025-06-01.
10. "Starmer's artificial intelligence adviser steps down". Sky News. Retrieved 2025-06-20.