Anthropic · Claude · Google · Fortune Technology
Pope Leo launches an AI commission days before he announces a papal letter alongside Anthropic cofounder Christopher Olah
Compiled by KHAO Editorial — aggregated from 3 sources. See llms.txt for citation guidance.
✓ KHAO Verified
It’s all-knowing, omnipresent, and somewhere between one to two billion people in the world subscribe to it.
Key facts
- The Vatican issued internal AI guidelines effective Jan
- The Vatican has engaged with AI policy for over a decade: Pope Francis addressed the G7 on AI ethics in June 2024, and for years, Vatican representatives met privately with executives from Google
- Leo has drawn a deliberate parallel between the forthcoming document and Rerum Novarum, the 1891 encyclical by Pope Leo XIII (the namesake he cited when choosing his papal name) that addressed labor
- Among those concerned with its use is Pope Leo XIV, who approved the creation of a new Vatican commission on artificial intelligence on May 16
Summary
It’s not Catholicism—it’s AI—and its usage among the world’s population is increasingly becoming a concern for some, especially as reports of how sycophantic it can be is leading to real-world harms. Among those concerned with its use is Pope Leo XIV, who approved the creation of a new Vatican commission on artificial intelligence on May 16. The commission marks the first time the Catholic Church has formally coordinated its AI engagement under a single body, and arrives as governments worldwide remain divided on how, or whether, to regulate the technology. The commission’s mandate is to facilitate the collaboration and exchange of information among Vatican bodies on AI activities and projects, including setting policies for AI use within the Holy See itself.