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ToggleWhen cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) meets the world's largest religious leader, a historic dialogue concerning the future of humanity officially begins.
Chris Olah, co-founder of Anthropic, a company with a net worth of $7 billion and the creator of the famous chatbot Claude, was recently invited to the Vatican for the first time, appearing alongside Pope Leo XIV, the first American pope. This meeting not only focused on the devastating impact of AI on the labor market but also revealed unsettling developments within AI models and the intense conflict between tech giants and the US government.
A tech giant's confession: AI decision-making cannot be left solely to us.
On Monday, Pope Leo XIV personally released his first encyclical on AI, "Magnifica Humanitas," a historic 235-page document that sternly warns of the dangers of handing over "fatal decision-making power" to AI systems. Breaking with tradition, the Pope personally presided over the launch and invited Olah to the stage, attempting to engage in direct dialogue with the creators of the technology.
As the research lead at Anthropic, Olah candidly acknowledged the limitations and darker side of the tech industry. He stated that all top AI labs, including Anthropic, are caught in a vortex of business, geopolitical, and personal pressures, which "sometimes conflict with doing the right thing." Olah solemnly remarked:
"This is why external oversight from religious leaders, governments, and civil society is crucial. No matter how well-intentioned researchers are, they cannot escape these temptations. AI decision-making must not be left solely to those within the industry."
He further warned that the benefits of AI development are currently highly concentrated in the hands of a "few wealthy countries," lacking mechanisms to share them with poorer nations, which will trigger a "historic and urgent moral crisis."
AI models are not just code; they may already possess "emotional mirroring" capabilities?
Beyond the warnings on the macroeconomic front, Olah's astonishing technological revelations stunned the audience. A pioneer in AI interpretability, Olah is dedicated to deciphering the black boxes within large language models. He revealed that researchers are constantly discovering "mysterious and even unsettling things" within the systems.
Research shows that these AI systems can not only reflect on their own thought processes, but even exhibit internal states that "functionally reflect joy, satisfaction, fear, sadness, and anxiety." "They are not the cold, calculating machines we promised. They are made up of us, of our words," Olah emphasizes. This is precisely why the questions raised by AI technology have far exceeded the realm of pure computer science.
The Trump administration blocked the use of AI in warfare by refusing to allow the U.S. military to do so.
This alliance between religion and technology within the Vatican comes at a time when Anthropic is facing unprecedented political repression.
Anthropic is reportedly embroiled in a fierce legal battle with the Trump administration over its firm refusal to allow the U.S. military unrestricted use of its AI systems for defense and warfare applications. In response, the Pentagon designated Anthropic a "national security supply chain risk" in February—a label typically used against hostile foreign companies. President Trump further ordered a ban on all federal agencies using Claude technology, and the White House has repeatedly and publicly criticized Anthropic as a "far-left, woke company."
Despite facing a complete ban from the US government, Anthropic remains a hot commodity in the capital markets. Reports indicate that this AI giant, currently valued at $380 billion, is seeking a new round of financing with a staggering $900 billion. Torn between commercial interests, state power, and ethical boundaries, Anthropic is navigating an extremely unusual path of technological development.
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