Anthropic Met UK Tech Secretary Monthly in Q1 to Discuss AI’s Energy Demands

Topics included the rising energy demands of AI, the UK’s AI Action Plan, and global AI cooperation.

CEO Dario Amodei met Secretary Peter Kyle on February 10, while policy head Jack Clark met him on January 6 and March 21, according to documents obtained through a Freedom of Information request.

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The documents also reveal that Anthropic, backed by Google and Amazon and valued at over $60 billion, requested meetings with both Kyle and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

Discussions included this year’s AI Action Summit in Paris and plans for future events, with India set to host the next summit.

In one of the meetings, UK Technology Secretary Peter Kyle explained the decision to rename the AI Safety Institute to the AI Security Institute.

Anthropic and the UK government recently partnered to explore how Anthropic’s chatbot, Claude, can improve public access to information and services.

The documents highlight growing concerns over energy demands as the UK aims to become a global AI leader. The UK’s AI Opportunities Action Plan, launched in January, focuses on building infrastructure like data centres to support AI growth and attract investment. However, this comes with challenges—especially high energy costs and climate commitments.

According to the Social Market Foundation, powering a 100MW data centre in the UK costs four times more than in the US.

Other records show that on February 10, Kyle also met with OpenAI’s CEO Sam Altman, Chief Global Affairs Officer Chris Lehane, regional policy head Sandro Gianella, and UK AI advisor Matt Clifford. They discussed digital governance tools like the Gov.UK app and a planned digital wallet.

That same day, Kyle also met with ARM CEO Rene Haas and Matt Clifford to talk about the UK’s broader AI strategy.

That same day, Peter Kyle also met with Demis Hassabis, CEO and co-founder of Google DeepMind, and UK AI advisor Matt Clifford. They discussed the importance of digital inclusion, and Kyle asked for a follow-up meeting to talk about Artificial General Intelligence (AGI)—AI that can perform any task a human can do.

On February 11, Kyle met with Mati Staniszewski, CEO and co-founder of ElevenLabs, and Victor Riparbelli, CEO and co-founder of Synthesia. Clifford also joined the meeting, where they discussed how AI could be used in the public sector.

About Anthropic

Anthropic was founded in 2021 by seven former OpenAI employees, including siblings Daniela and Dario Amodei. In April 2022, the company announced it had raised $580 million in funding, which included a $500 million investment from FTX, led by Sam Bankman-Fried.