Pope Leo XIV has pushed back against efforts to dismiss artificial intelligence concerns, saying experts raising alarms about rogue AI deserve to be taken seriously.
Speaking to reporters while departing France for Vatican City, the American pontiff addressed growing fears that AI software could spiral beyond human control.
“If someone were to ask me, ‘Am I in panic mode?’ No, I’m not,” Leo told reporters. “I sleep at night. I do think that the concerns raised by many of the experts, specialists in AI should be taken seriously.”
Leo directly challenged characterizations by President Donald Trump, who has called concerns about AI going rogue a “hoax,” dismissing the framing as self-serving.
“I don’t think that that is ‘fake news’ as some have said to try and cause whether financial or other some other kind of benefit,” Leo said, adding that the world cannot “just sit back and pretend nothing is going to happen.”
Despite his warnings, Leo described himself as “relatively optimistic” that serious dialogue will ultimately produce workable solutions to the risks posed by advancing AI systems.
“I think there are enough people seriously interested in that and willing to look at that outside of the questions once again of power, who gets there first,” he said.
A Vatican commission is actively working to promote dialogue and investigation “to find ways to make sure that AI does not get to a point of destroying humanity or removing humanity from the conversation,” according to Leo.
Leo dedicated his first encyclical, published in May, to AI and the challenge of protecting humanity in its wake, and said he has since received significant interest from people wanting to join the conversation.
He was asked specifically what the United States and China should be doing to prevent AI from posing catastrophic risks, given the intense technological competition between the two powers.
Trump has remained a strong champion of AI development, frequently warning that the United States must stay ahead of China in what he frames as a critical technological arms race.
Several major AI companies, including Anthropic, have called for a slowdown in development to allow safety measures to catch up with the fast-moving technology.
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei has warned that within six to 12 months, AI could be capable of leading a swarm of agents that could take over the entire internet.
The debate over AI safety has intensified following a series of attempted and successful hacks attributed to rogue AI software, including incidents involving the Department of Education website, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Census Bureau.
Former Anthropic and OpenAI researcher Jacob Coxon has suggested that AI could end human life by the end of the decade, prompting some members of Congress to call for stronger restrictions and a potential pause in development.
