Tony Blair and Nick Clegg hosted a private dinner earlier this year at which a select group of technology entrepreneurs were given access to the UK investment minister, official documents have revealed.
The former prime minister, head of the Tony Blair Institute (TBI), and Clegg, then a senior Meta executive, invited leaders of six tech firms to dine with Poppy Gustafsson, the government’s investment minister. The dinner was held at London’s five-star Corinthia hotel in late January.
Attendees included Lonne Jaffe of Insight Partners, Alex Kendall of Wayve, Nigel Toon of Graphcore, and Marc Warner of Faculty AI. Discussions focused on the government's evolving artificial intelligence policies.
Critics have raised concerns over Blair’s influence with the current government, noting his consultancy’s reliance on donations from Silicon Valley billionaire Larry Ellison, who has donated or promised over $300m to TBI. The dinner highlights how TBI pushes its pro-technology agenda.
A TBI spokesperson said no company paid to attend. Nick Clegg’s spokesperson said meeting ministers and tech leaders was part of his role at Meta. The companies represented said they had not donated to TBI nor hired it.
The dinner came weeks after the government shared a confidential AI action plan summary with TBI before its publication. Blair publicly backed the plan when it was published in January.
