Anthropic’s Pope Leo alliance draws praise and criticism from AI safety advocates
The Story
Pope Leo XIV’s first major written teaching criticized artificial intelligence for replacing workers, accelerating war, and exploiting the environment. At a Vatican ceremony for the encyclical, Anthropic co-founder Chris Olah appeared as a guest speaker, raising questions about collaboration between the Catholic church and a leading AI company. AI safety advocates offered mixed reactions, with some viewing the engagement as a superficial “Vatican-washing” effort. Pete Furlong of the Center for Humane Technology said Anthropic’s technology is at odds with the pope’s emphasis on human dignity in work. Paolo Carozza of Notre Dame law school said the alliance risks feelgood discourse without critical self-examination but welcomed dialogue. Timnit Gebru of the Distributed Artificial Intelligence Research Institute accused Anthropic of engaging in “Vatican-washing” and said the church should have partnered with exploited data workers instead. Anthropic did not comment on the criticism.
Key Facts
- Pope Leo XIV issued an encyclical warning AI could replace workers, accelerate war, and exploit the environment.
- Chris Olah, Anthropic co-founder, spoke at the Vatican ceremony for the encyclical.
- Pete Furlong said major AI companies including Anthropic are building technology designed to replace people.
- Anthropic’s own labor analysis identified coders, customer service, and data-entry workers as vulnerable to automation.
- A survey by Epoch AI found 20% of US full-time workers said AI has taken over parts of their job.
- Dario Amodei, Anthropic CEO, has warned of apocalyptic loss of white-collar jobs.
- Paolo Carozza said there is a risk the engagement remains superficial and serves Anthropic’s safety brand.
- Timnit Gebru called the alliance “Vatican-washing” in a LinkedIn post.
- Anthropic and the pope agree on red lines for AI in warfare; Amodei refused US use of AI in autonomous weapons and mass surveillance, leading to a feud with the Trump administration and a court battle.
- Anthropic spent $1.6m on lobbying in Q1 2026, more than OpenAI.
- Pope Leo called for sustainable data centers; Anthropic committed $50bn to AI infrastructure including data centers but says it will cover electricity price increases and reduce peak demand usage.
- Chris Olah noted that frontier AI labs operate under incentives that can conflict with doing the right thing.
Conflicting Reports
The source article presents multiple perspectives: some advocates see Anthropic’s Vatican engagement as a positive step for dialogue, while others, including Timnit Gebru, view it as “Vatican-washing.” The article also notes that Anthropic and the pope align on AI warfare concerns but conflict on labor and environmental sustainability.
Still Unclear
No open questions identified in the source article.
Misconceptions
No widespread misconceptions addressed in the source article.
Key Figures
Pope Leo XIV, Chris Olah, Pete Furlong, Paolo Carozza, Timnit Gebru, Dario Amodei
Sources: The Guardian
