Beeban Kidron, the film director who is campaigning against government plans to overhaul copyright rules for AI companies, has become the latest high-profile figure to complain about the role being played by the prime minister’s AI tsar, Matt Clifford.
Lady Kidron, an award-winning film director whose work includes Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, said ministers were only listening to people who stood to benefit from the controversial proposals, which will take another step forward on Tuesday.
Clifford, a technology investor who is advising Keir Starmer on his AI strategy, continues to hold shares in dozens of AI companies, attracting criticism from anti-corruption campaigners.
Ministers will on Tuesday close a consultation on whether they should make it easier for AI companies to train their algorithms on creative content such as films, songs and books – proposals which have sparked a backlash from cultural heavyweights such as Sir Elton John.
Kidron said Clifford’s appointment was part of a pattern of behaviour whereby the government pays more attention to the technology industry than those who stand to be affected by it.
She said: “It is for Peter Kyle [the technology secretary] and the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, to explain why they are taking advice exclusively from tech sector people such as Matt Clifford.”
She added: “It is obvious, that if you only listen to those who stand to benefit from a policy then you will hear that it is a great idea … This is a shameful policy based on lobbyist numbers and takes no account of the national interest.”
Kidron’s comments add to concerns among campaigners against the proposed changes that they are being sidelined in favour of corporate interests. Clifford began working as Starmer’s AI adviser last year, having also advised his predecessor, Rishi Sunak.
As an investor in technology stocks, he holds shares in dozens of companies in the AI sector, including many British startups. He is also the chair of Entrepreneur First, an investment firm he set up, which has holdings in more than 100 companies of its own.
The government announced on Monday, however, that Clifford had sold all his shares in Faculty AI, the strategy company which has worked closely with the government on AI safety, the NHS and education.
Downing Street defended Clifford, saying he had stuck to government disclosure rules since taking up his role.
The prime minister’s spokesperson said: “He has followed the process … There is a process on appointment where you declare all of your interests, you work through necessary mitigations to manage any interests.”
Sources have told the Guardian that Clifford has agreed not to buy or sell any of the companies he part-owns while working for the government, or to be involved in decisions on new investments made by Entrepreneur First.
In the coming weeks, ministers will have to decide how easy they want it to be for AI companies to access creative content to build their models. The government has said it wants such content to be available by default, with an option to opt out of any such arrangement. But industry figures including John have argued it should instead be an opt-in system.
