Vatican City (AFP) – Pope Leo XIV called Monday for the "disarming" of artificial intelligence in his long-awaited manifesto on the rapidly developing technology, and warned of "new forms of slavery" behind its rise.
Issued on: 25/05/2026 - 04:01
Modified: 25/05/2026 - 11:46
The "just war" theory -- espoused recently by the Trump administration -- was "outdated", Leo wrote in his first encyclical, which he presented in person at the Vatican, alongside AI experts including the co-founder of US giant Anthropic.
The first US pope, who has clashed with the White House over the Iran war and its use of religion to justify conflict, sounded the alarm over AI-directed weaponry, saying it was "not permissible to entrust lethal" decisions to tech.
