Pope Leo Will Unveil New AI Encyclical—With Top Anthropic Exec Playing Role
Pope Leo Will Unveil New AI Encyclical—With Top Anthropic Exec Playing Role
Publish Date: 2026-05-18 11:04:00
Source Domain: www.forbes.com
Topline
Pope Leo XIV will present a major Church document on artificial intelligence next week and he will be joined by Chris Olah, the billionaire co-founder of Anthropic, the AI giant that has cautioned about the use of AI for dangerous means, and has run afoul (like the pope) of President Trump.
Pope Leo XIV will unveil an encyclical letter on AI next week. (Photo by Andreas SOLARO / AFP via Getty Images)
AFP via Getty Images
Key Facts
Leo will present “Magnifica humanitas,” the first encyclical letter of his papacy, at the Vatican on May 25, which the Church said Monday morning will discuss “preserving the human person in the age of artificial intelligence.”
Popes typically author a few encyclical letters during their tenures, which offer guidance on Church teachings (Francis, Leo’s predecessor, issued four encyclicals during his 12-year papacy, including a nearly 200-page letter urging action on climate change).
Leo will present the encyclical alongside multiple speakers, including cardinals, academics and Olah, who co-founded Anthropic in 2021 with six other former OpenAI employees and serves as a lead researcher.
It’s not yet clear what the pope’s letter will say, but Leo has offered critiques of AI in the past, warning in previous remarks the technology “cannot replace human intelligence” and cannot judge between right and wrong.
Days earlier, the Vatican announced Leo had created a study group on AI ahead of his encyclical to examine the technology’s “potential effects on human beings” and “the church’s concern for the dignity of every human being.”
The Vatican’s Growing Tensions With Trump Administration
The Trump administration has increasingly lashed out at the pope, a steadfast critic of the war in Iran. Trump called Leo, in a Truth Social post in April, “WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy.” Trump has repeatedly falsely accused Leo of supporting Iran’s right to have a nuclear weapon, which Leo has not said….
