Vice President JD Vance praised Pope Leo XIV’s 42,000-word encyclical offering bleak warnings about the risks of AI as “very profound” in an interview with NBC News on Tuesday, weeks after Vance issued a warning for the Catholic Church’s leader over his anti-war comments.
Vice President JD Vance praised the pope's encyclical as "very profound." (Photo by Tierney L. Cross-Pool/Getty Images)
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Vance, who converted to Catholicism in 2019, told NBC News he hasn’t read the entire encyclical, but the “bits and pieces” he has read are “very profound, and the sort of thing that you would expect and hope from a leader of the church.”
He praised the pope for thinking about Catholic social teachings amid “new technologies and warfare,” as Leo’s encyclical warned of using AI technology in military operations.
Vance’s praise for the pope comes weeks after he urged Leo to “be careful” when speaking on theological matters, after the pope noted Jesus Christ “is never on the side of those who once wielded the sword and today drop bombs”, with Vance’s comments prompting the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to issue a statement rebuffing him.
Earlier on Tuesday, Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum criticized the pope on “Mornings with Maria” on Fox Business, saying, “I didn’t know that tech editorializing was part of the role of being pope.”
Burgum defended the construction of AI data centers, which require massive amounts of energy, as “positive for humanity,” and he downplayed concerns that AI data center construction could strain the supply of energy and hike prices, suggesting some states have high energy costs “because of the policies they’ve pursued” like “unreliable, weather-dependent sources of electricity.”
Leo’s encyclical warned about the environmental impact of AI, saying data centers consume “enormous amounts of energy and water, significantly influencing carbon dioxide emissions,” calling for “more sustainable technological solutions that reduce environmental impact.”
In a more than 42,000-word manifesto released Monday, Leo offered a stark warning about the development of AI technology and called on world leaders for greater regulation to protect human dignity. Titled “Magnifica Humanitas” (Magnificent Humanity), Leo’s encyclical warned the AI race could create a modern Tower of Babel, a biblical story in which humans, out of pride and arrogance, constructed a city with a singular language, prompting God to confuse their language, fracturing the people’s unity. Leo, who has been a prominent critic of the war in Iran for months, warned AI can “bring conflict about more quickly and render it more impersonal,” calling for regulation to “curb the technological arms race and ensure robust protection for civilians.” Leo warned about the technology’s lack of morality, saying “moral judgment cannot be reduced to calculation, for it involves conscience, personal responsibility and the recognition of the other as a person,” warning against trusting “lethal or otherwise irreversible decisions to artificial systems.” He criticized technological leaders for prioritizing profits and sacrificing jobs, calling for regulation of companies that are leading the AI race.
The Trump administration has increasingly clashed with the pope in recent weeks, largely over the pope’s criticisms of the war in Iran. Trump called Leo “WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy,” in a post on Truth Social in April. Trump has repeatedly falsely accused Leo of supporting Iran’s right to have a nuclear weapon, which Leo has not said. Vice President JD Vance, a Catholic convert, also warned Leo to “be careful” when speaking on theological matters, citing the pope’s anti-war comments. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops committee issued a statement critical of Vance, which said Leo’s remarks uphold the Church’s longstanding teaching that war is only justified “in self-defense, once all peace efforts have failed.” Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said in April the pope is “going to do his thing” but said the United States has “every authority necessary” to fight the war. A report in the Free Press claimed tensions between the Vatican and Washington predate the Iran war, saying Pentagon officials threatened a Vatican official in a January meeting, though the Pentagon denied this in a statement and called the report “highly exaggerated.”
Billionaire Anthropic co-founder Chris Olah joined Leo for the presentation of his encyclical, saying the AI race needs “moral voices that the incentives cannot bend.” Leo pledged to work with Olah to “find a way for humanity in this time of artificial intelligence,” adding, “What a great sign of hope it is that in our differences we can listen to one another.”
Pope Leo Paints Bleak AI Future—With 'Tower Of Babel’ Warning—Without Human Control (Forbes)
Hegseth Responds To Pope Leo’s Iran War Criticism: US Has ‘Authority’ To Fight (Forbes)
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