Pope Leo XIV warns of AI war: “Artificial intelligence now demands disarmament” | Today’s news
Pope Leo XIV on Monday (May 25) issued a sweeping warning about the dangers of artificial intelligence, calling for strong global regulation, independent oversight and ethical safeguards to ensure the technology serves humanity rather than profit or war.
In his first encyclical, titled Magnifica Humanitas (“Magnificent Humanity”), the first American-born pope described AI as one of the defining challenges of the modern age and criticized what he called the “culture of power” that is driving the global race to develop ever more powerful systems.
“Artificial intelligence now demands to be disarmed, freed from the logic that turns it into an instrument of domination, exclusion and death,” Pope Leo said during a special Vatican presentation of the document.
Pope warns against AI-driven warfare
The encyclical strongly condemned the use of artificial intelligence in military operations and warned against machines being able to make life and death decisions.
Leo said it is “not permissible” to hand over irreversible lethal decisions to artificial intelligence systems, signaling a sharp moral challenge to governments and the defense industry, which is investing heavily in autonomous warfare technologies.
“It is not admissible to entrust irreversible, fatal decisions to artificial intelligence systems,” the Pope wrote.
Without naming specific countries or conflicts, Leo criticized the growing “normalization of war” driven by advanced technology and warned that artificial intelligence risks desensitizing society to the human cost of conflict.
He also argued that the Catholic Church’s traditional doctrine of a “just war” was now “obsolete” because modern warfare technologies had changed the scale and nature of destruction.
Criticism of technology giants and concentration of power
The Pope has repeatedly warned against the concentration of data and technological power in the hands of a few corporations, saying that such control threatens vulnerable communities, especially children.
“It is not enough to invoke ethics in the abstract; robust legal frameworks, independent oversight, informed users and a political system that does not abdicate its responsibility are required,” wrote Pope Leo.
He added: “A more moral AI is not enough if a few people determine that morality.
The remarks appear to challenge the deregulatory approach promoted by US President Donald Trump, whose administration has pushed for fewer restrictions on AI development in an effort to maintain US technological dominance.
Vatican seeks dialogue with Silicon Valley
The Vatican presentation included remarks by Christopher Olah, co-founder of artificial intelligence company Anthropic, reflecting the Vatican’s ongoing efforts to engage technology leaders in ethical discussions about artificial intelligence.
Antropic is currently involved in legal disputes with the Trump administration over access to AI-related technology and regulation.
Olah welcomed the pope’s intervention, saying external scrutiny of AI companies is necessary because of the huge social and economic implications related to the technology.
“We need more of the world — religious communities, civil society, scholars, governments — to do what His Holiness has done here,” Olah said.
He warned of “the very real possibility that artificial intelligence will displace human labor on a very large scale”.
Pope urges developers to slow down
Throughout the encyclical, Pope Leo appealed directly to AI developers, business leaders and politicians to pause and carefully consider the long-term consequences of their actions.
He urged them to prioritize the welfare of humanity over financial gain or geopolitical competition.
The pope’s intervention comes as artificial intelligence companies, including OpenAI and Anthropic, continue to attract valuations worth hundreds of billions of dollars, underscoring the growing influence of private technology companies on the future of global economies and societies.
Leo framed the AI debate as not just technological or political, but deeply moral and spiritual.
“We need robust legal frameworks, independent oversight, informed users and a political system that does not abdicate its responsibility,” he wrote.
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