Leo, in his first encyclical, insists ownership of AI data must not be left solely in private hands.By AFP and APPublished On 25 May 202625 May 2026Pope Leo XIV has called for the “disarming” of artificial intelligence (AI), warning that “new forms of slavery” are tied to its rise.The Catholic Church leader warned on Monday against “a race for ever more powerful algorithms and larger datasets,” driven by “the desire to secure geopolitical or commercial dominance”.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of listHis concerns regarding AI were presented in his first encyclical, titled “Magnifica Humanitas” (Magnificent Humanity), in person at the Vatican. Encyclicals are one of the highest forms of teaching from a pontiff to the church’s 1.4 billion members.Leo insisted that ownership of AI data must not be left solely in private hands, called for policymakers to protect the rights of workers and keep children safe from the technology, and urged the cooling of competition between AI companies.“What is needed is a more active political involvement that is capable of slowing things down when everything is accelerating,” Leo said.The Catholic leader continued by calling for “robust legal frameworks, independent oversight, informed users and a political system that does not abdicate its responsibility”.“AI now demands to be disarmed, freed from logics that turn it into an instrument of domination, exclusion, and death,” he said. “Like nuclear energy, it must be at the service of all and of the common good.”Monday’s highly anticipated text, spanning nearly 43,000 words, has been in the works nearly since Leo’s election as pope a little more than a year ago.‘Push in better direction’Pope Leo presented the encyclical alongside AI experts, including Christopher Olah, co-founder of US giant Anthropic. Advertisement Anthropic is embroiled in a legal battle with …
