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Billionaire Peter Thiel has attacked Pope Leo XIV, mocking the Catholic leader by accusing him of being an agent of “Chinese communists” in response to the Pope’s dire warning about the consequences of artificial intelligence technology left unregulated by governments.
Peter Thiel, co-founder of PayPal and Palantir, attacked the Pope over his stance on artificial intelligence.
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According to CNNWhile speaking at the Aspen Ideas Festival in Colorado earlier this week, Thiel criticized the Pope, while also claiming that the Democratic Party was being “taken over by democratic socialism.”
Referring to Magnifica Humanitas, the first encyclical by a Catholic leader, Thiel said the Vatican’s call to regulate artificial intelligence could only slow one side of the U.S.-China AI race, as leaders in Beijing are unlikely to heed the Pope’s pleas.
And the billionaire claimed that in his mind, that meant Leo, the first-ever American pope, was “working for the Chinese Communist Party.”
This remark reportedly drew laughter from the audience.
Thiel is a longtime supporter of President Trump and a key supporter of Vice President J.D. Vance, whose administration has had a public feud with the Pope.
What did the Pope say in his encyclical?
Pope Leo is first encyclical In May, he warned that the growing use of artificial intelligence, mass automation and technological advances are being used to build a modern-day “Tower of Babel” that reflects a world defined by greed, immorality and lack of respect for human life. The manifesto said that while it would be desirable for technology to free humans from “difficult, repetitive or dangerous tasks” and provide “intelligent support”, “the pursuit of profit must not lead to choices that “systematically sacrifice jobs”. The Pope’s document also warned against using AI to “build distorted narratives” and condemned the deployment of autonomous weapons systems, which “could make war more ‘viable’ and less dependent on human control.”
What do we know about the feud between the Pope and the White House?
The Pope is one of the world’s most prominent critics of the Trump administration’s military actions, including the decision to go to war with Iran. After the war began, Leo warned that a “spiral of violence” could become an “unbridgeable gap.” The Pope took a firmer stance after President Trump’s controversial Truth social post, warning that “an entire civilization will perish tonight” if Iran does not agree to demands for an end to the conflict. Leo said Trump’s threats were “truly unacceptable,” adding: “Any attack on civilian infrastructure is a violation of international law.” in unprecedented movePresident Trump then directly attacked the Pope on social media, saying he was “weak on crime” and “terrible when it comes to foreign policy.” The president also said Leo should be “grateful” and claimed without evidence that if he wasn’t in the White House, “Leo wouldn’t be in the Vatican.”
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Peter Thiel in Aspen: The Pope is ‘working for the Chinese Communists’ (CNN)
