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Pope Leo XIV said on Monday that concerns about artificial intelligence going rogue are not “fake news” and should be taken seriously, insisting that safety issues raised by AI experts should be discussed and acted on.
The pontiff, who dedicated his first encyclical to AI and protecting humanity in its wake, was asked during a press conference about what the United States and China especially should be doing to prevent AI from posing catastrophic risks to humanity.
US President Donald Trump has struck down concerns about AI, its rapid pace of development and potential of going rogue, repeatedly, despite calls from top AI firm executives – including Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei and OpenAI’s Sam Altman, downplaying them as a “hoax.”
“This is a problem that, I think, we need to sit down and talk about,” the American pope told reporters onboard a plane back to the Vatican from France, where he had just completed the first apostolic journey to the country in 18 years.
“We can’t just sit back and pretend nothing is going to happen,” said Leo XIV.
Trump has been a champion of the technology, often warning that the United States must remain ahead of China in the AI arms race. He has said efforts to limit the technology were part of a “conspiracy” by his political opponents.
Several AI giants, including Anthropic, have called for a slowdown in development to give safety measures time to catch up to the fast-moving technology.
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, for example, has warned that within six to 12 months, AI could be capable of leading a swarm of agents that could take over the entire internet.
Trump had a late-night dinner with Amodei on Sunday, during which they discussed Americans’ concerns about the technology and how to keep the US dominant, the White House said.
“If someone were to ask me ‘Am I in panic mode?’ No I’m not. I sleep at night,” said the pontiff. “I do think that the concerns raised by many of the experts, specialists in AI should be taken seriously,” he stressed.
“I don’t think that that is ‘fake news’ as some have said to try and cause whether financial or some other kind of benefit,” Leo said.
The pope, who called for robust regulation of AI and a slowdown of the technology in his encyclical “Magnificent Humanity,” is up to speed on developments in the field.
Despite being at the end of a gruelling four-day trip to France, Leo noted a news report on Monday afternoon about Nvidia introducing guardrails into AI. He also noted that the company has previously resisted outside regulation of AI development.
He identified AI as one of the biggest challenges to humanity within days of his election and took the unusual step of personally launching his own encyclical alongside Anthropic’s co-founder Christopher Olah at a Vatican event in May.
The initiative was part of the Vatican’s effort to engage Silicon Valley about the human costs of AI.
“We need to continue to invite political leaders, leaders of AI, social organisations, associations to come together and look at what is happening already and what could be down the road,” he said on Monday.
“To simply say ‘Oh it’s not going to happen’ and close our eyes to it I think is probably not the most responsible way to go about that,” he added.
Additional sources • AP