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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
Technology
Sanya Mansoor

Anthropic’s alliance with pope on AI harms: all in good faith or ‘Vatican-washing?’

two men shaking hands
Pope Leo with Chris Olah, the co-founder of Anthropic, at the Vatican on Monday. Photograph: Alberto Pizzoli/AFP/Getty Images

Why did Anthropic’s founder sit beside the pope during a warning about AI?

In the first major written teaching of his papacy, Pope Leo XIV took artificial intelligence to task. The pontiff delineated the technology’s most concerning threats to humanity: replacing workers, accelerating war and exploiting the environment. At a ceremony honoring the holy teaching the day of its release at the Vatican, the pope was flanked by an unusual guest speaker: Anthropic co-founder Chris Olah, one of the people behind the AI boom so worrying Leo.

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