Pope rejects AI "fake news" claims after Trump calls fears a "hoax"
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Pope Leo XIV gives a press conference with journalists on the return flight from France on Monday. Photo: Alberto Pizzoli/Pool/AFP via Getty Images
Pope Leo XIV told reporters that warnings from AI researchers should be "taken seriously" and are not "fake news."
Why it matters: Leo is leading the Catholic Church as AI raises sweeping societal concerns, and he has made confronting those risks a key part of his papacy.
- As the first American pope, Leo is also positioned to counter President Trump, who called concerns over AI safety a "HOAX" and a "SICK conspiracy."
- It's far from the first time Leo has appeared to break with the president.
Driving the news: Closing his trip to France, Leo told reporters aboard a plane that he's not in "panic mode" over AI fears.
- But he continued, saying, "I do think that the concerns raised by many of the experts, specialists in AI, should be taken seriously. I don't think that is fake news, as some have said, to try and cause whether financial or some other kind of benefit."
- Leo later added, "We have to keep working, we can't sit back and pretend nothing is going to happen."
Zoom in: He nodded to Nvidia's recent software launch to help secure AI agents, as mounting incidents of agentic misbehavior fuel AI safety concerns.
- But Leo criticized the tech giant's CEO, Jensen Huang, saying, "he's the same one, however, that says there should be no limits placed and no government regulation, et cetera, et cetera."
- Huang has also dismissed AI fears, suggesting at a recent conference that the panic was a means for the cybersecurity sector to generate new business.
- A White House official told Axios the hoax that Trump was referring to is that Democrats are using AI concern as a way to score points weeks before the midterms.
Catch up quick: Leo's first major encyclical, released in May, positioned the Vatican as a moral voice in the growing debate over AI.
- Despite the tech's usefulness, Leo warned in the document that AI could erode human judgment, deepen inequality and destabilize democracy, among other risks, Axios' Russell Contreras wrote at the time.
The bottom line: "We need to continue to invite political leaders, the leaders of AI, social organizations, associations to come together and look at what is happening already and what could be down the road," Leo advised.
What's next: Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) are set to meet with tech CEOs Tuesday.
Go deeper: Pope: "Paradise of machines" threatens humanity
Editor's note: This story has been updated with comment from a White House official.
