Anthropic’s alliance with pope on AI harms: all in good faith or ‘Vatican-washing?’ | AI (artificial intelligence)
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/may/30/pope-leo-anthropic-ai
Publish Date: 2026-05-30 09:01:00
Source Domain: www.theguardian.com
Why did Anthropic’s founder sit beside the pope during a warning about AI?
In the first major written teaching of his papacy, Pope Leo XIV took artificial intelligence to task. The pontiff delineated the technology’s most concerning threats to humanity: replacing workers, accelerating war and exploiting the environment. At a ceremony honoring the holy teaching the day of its release at the Vatican, the pope was flanked by an unusual guest speaker: Anthropic co-founder Chris Olah, one of the people behind the AI boom so worrying Leo.
Olah’s presence raises a key question: how could the Catholic church and the world’s most valuable AI startup work together, when Anthropic’s technology may bring about the future Leo is warning against?
Leo’s encyclical discusses at length the preservation of the dignity of humans’ work as it comes under threat from AI – but major AI companies, including Anthropic, aren’t prioritising these concerns, says Pete Furlong, senior manager of policy and research at Center for Humane Technology, a nonprofit advocating for accountability around AI.
“All of these companies are building technology that … is designed to replace people,” Furlong says. “That’s very much at odds with the pope’s words. You can’t have dignity in a world where you’re building technology to replace people.”
Some professions – such as coders, customer service representatives and data-entry workers – are especially vulnerable to AI’s ability to automate tasks, according to Anthropic’s own labor market analysis released in March. A survey published by nonprofit AI research center Epoch AI last month found that 20% of full-time workers in the US said AI has taken over parts of their job. Dario Amodei himself, CEO of Anthropic, has warned of an apocalyptic loss of white-collar jobs in the coming years.
‘Vatican-washing’
There’s a risk that Anthropic’s engagement with the Vatican could remain superficial and lead to a…
