Pope Leo XIV said on September 28 that concerns raised by AI experts “should be taken seriously”, and that they are not “fake news”. Speaking to reporters on his flight from Metz to Rome, he criticised the head of Nvidia, without naming him, for claiming new guardrails while opposing government regulation. He said he is “relatively optimistic”.
New to this? Read it in simple words
- Pope Leo, the head of the Catholic Church, spoke about AI with reporters on a plane.
- He said warnings from AI experts are real and should be taken seriously.
- He criticised the head of Nvidia for opposing government rules for AI.
- He said he is not panicking, and that he is fairly hopeful.
- Guardrails
- Limits built into AI to stop it from doing harm.
- Regulation
- Rules set by governments that companies must follow.
- Papal flight
- The plane on which the Pope travels and often answers questions.
What he said
A reporter asked how worried he is that AI could pose catastrophic risks to humanity. “If someone were to ask me, am I in panic mode? No, I’m not. I sleep at night,” he answered.
“I do think that the concerns raised by many of the experts, specialists in AI, should be taken seriously,” he said. “I don’t think that is fake news, as some have said.”
Dates from Nvidia, the Vatican transcript and the White House accord.
The remark about Nvidia
The Pope said he had read that day that “the head of NVIDIA” claims to have found a way to put guardrails into AI. The aim is to stop it causing the harm people fear. He did not name Jensen Huang.
“He’s the same one, however, that says there should be no limits placed and no government regulation,” the Pope said. That day, Nvidia had launched a platform that it says can contain AI agents that go outside their limits.
The reports we read carried no response from Nvidia.
What he wants
He said political leaders, AI leaders and civic groups need to sit down and talk. The Vatican has set up its own commission on AI, which began by coordinating the Holy See’s own use of the technology, he said.
He said he is “relatively optimistic” that AI can be kept from reaching a point where it could destroy humanity. “But we have to keep working, we can’t sit back and pretend nothing is going to happen.”
Sources
Every fact in this story comes from the sources below. Open them to check our work.
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We quote the Pope from Vatican News’ transcript of the press conference, and compared the Catholic News Agency’s report on EWTN News. The Pope named “the head of NVIDIA”, not Jensen Huang; linking his remark to Nvidia’s same-day launch is our context, not his words.