Ian Hogarth's declared outside interests
Updated 24 February 2025
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Last updated: Friday 21 February 2025
1. Appointments
Ian currently holds, or has previously held, the following appointments in the Department for Science, innovation and Technology:
| Role | Start date | End date |
|---|---|---|
| Chair of the AI Safety Institute (formerly the AI Foundation Model Taskforce) | 12 June 2023 | 11 December 2024 |
| Chair of the AI Safety Institute | 12 December 2024 | 9 February 2025 |
| Chair of the AI Security Institute (formerly the AI Safety Institute) | 10 February 2025 | 9 December 2025 |
Under the Code of Conduct for Board Members of Public Bodies, appointees in the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (the department) are required to declare any private financial or non-financial interests of your own, or of close family members, which may, or may be perceived to, conflict with their public duties.
2. Register of interests
2.1 Personal interests
Ian’s spouse is the CEO of Supercritical (a start-up working on carbon removal). Ian’s spouse has made investments in a number of companies that have been deemed not to be in scope of the AI Safety Institute’s work.
2.2 Financial interests
Ian agreed to a number of mitigation measures related to his financial interests with the department’s Permanent Secretary upon his appointment. Ian has a number of financial interests in companies that have been declared to the department’s Permanent Secretary and are not deemed to relate to the scope of the AI Safety Institute and accordingly were not subject to any mitigation measures.
2.3 Outside occupations
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General Partner at Plural
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Chair at Phasecraft
2.4 Voluntary roles
None declared
2.5 Previous employment, appointment or other outside roles
None declared
2.6 Business interests
Company directorships (including shareholdings):
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Plural UK Management Limited
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Hadash Limited
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Unitary Limited
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Proxima Fusion GmbH
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Phasecraft Limited (chair)
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Oriole Networks Limited
2.7 Procurements
None declared
2.8 Any other relevant interests
None declared
3. Mitigations
3.1 Chair of the AI Safety Institute
The department’s Permanent Secretary and Ian agreed to a number of mitigation measures to manage Ian’s potential conflicts of interest in his role as Chair of the Foundation Model Taskforce and later the AI Safety Institute. This agreement has been in effect since his appointment on 14 June 2023. It sets out an approach to identify, address and mitigate any actual, potential or perceived personal or business interests which may conflict, or may be perceived to conflict, with the chair’s duties.
The principal requirements of this agreement were as follows:
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The first is that Ian would not hold investments related directly to the work of the taskforce and the AI Safety Institute. Ian held investments that were deemed to be in conflict with the scope of the Foundation Model Taskforce and the AI Safety Institute and agreed to divest these investments. The investments that fell directly within the scope of the Foundation Model Taskforce were in Anthropic AI, Conjecture, Lakera, and Stability AI. Ian has divested his shareholdings in Conjecture, Lakera, and Anthropic. He also divested his investment in Faculty despite not being in scope. The price for the sale of the assets was calculated as at the date Ian became chair (June 2023) rather than the price at the point of sale to ensure that Ian received no economic benefit for events subsequent to his appointment. Ian has made arrangements such that he will receive no personal financial gain from his shareholding in Stability AI.
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The second is that Ian would recuse himself from decisions relating to procurement where he held financial interests in the relevant companies.
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The third is that Ian would not share non-public information he gains in his role as chair with outside interests.
During his appointment as chair, Ian Hogarth will continue his normal business activities including his duties to Plural. Ian has agreed to recuse himself from investment and divestment decision making in relation to Plural’s investments in companies that are directly within scope of the Institute and any direct economic interest in such companies (where he is not deemed a minority passive investor in a collective investment vehicle).