Anthropic co-founder Olah joints Pope Leo in calling for stronger oversight of AI growth

Anthropic co-founder Chris Olah has warned at the Vatican event unveiling the encyclical that artificial intelligence governance cannot be left solely to technology companies, arguing for stronger external oversight as AI capabilities accelerate.

Pope Leo XIV used the first encyclical of his papacy to call for stronger oversight of AI, warning that rapidly advancing AI systems could spread misinformation, deepen inequality and normalize warfare.

In the document, Magnifica Humanitas ("Magnificent Humanity"), Leo urged governments to slow the pace of AI development and ensure control over data and digital infrastructure is not concentrated among a handful of private companies.

"There is a real possibility" that AI could displace human labor "at very large scale," Olah said, adding that supporting displaced workers would become "a moral imperative of historic proportions."

Olah said AI companies face commercial and geopolitical pressures that can conflict with the public interest and called for greater oversight from governments, religious leaders and civil society.

This echoed the Pope's comments, with Leo writing: "What is needed is a more active political involvement that is capable of slowing things down when everything is accelerating."

He called for "robust legal frameworks, independent oversight," and protections for workers and children, while warning that AI-driven competition could intensify global tensions.

He also cautioned against the use of autonomous weapons, writing that AI in warfare must be subject to "the most rigorous ethical constraints" to preserve human dignity and accountability.

Invoking the biblical story of the Tower of Babel, Leo warned against technological ambition driven by power, urging humanity to focus instead on the common good.

Leo additionally criticized the growing concentration of digital power among major technology firms, warning it could lead to "new dependencies, exclusions, manipulations and inequalities." While acknowledging AI's engineering achievements, he argued that the technology cannot replace human moral judgment and advised priests against relying on AI to write sermons.