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

Pope Leo with Chris Olah, the co-founder of Anthropic, at the Vatican on Monday. Photograph: Alberto Pizzoli/AFP/Getty Images View image in fullscreen Pope Leo with Chris Olah, the co-founder of Anthropic, at the Vatican on Monday. Photograph: Alberto Pizzoli/AFP/Getty Images Analysis Anthropic’s alliance with pope on AI harms: all in good faith or ‘Vatican-washing?’ Sanya Mansoor Experts say AI firm’s engagement with Vatican risks creating ‘feelgood’ discourse that lacks critical examination 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. Olah’s presence raises a key question: how could the Catholic church and the world’s most valuable AI startup work together, when Anthropic’s technology may bring about the future Leo is warning against? Leo’s encyclical discusses at length the preservation of the dignity of humans’ work as it comes under threat from AI – but major AI companies, including Anthropic, aren’t prioritising these concerns, says Pete Furlong, senior manager of policy and research at Center for Humane Technology, a nonprofit advocating for accountability around AI. “All of these companies are building technology that … is designed to replace people,” Furlong says. “That’s very much at odds with the pope’s words. You can’t have dignity in a world where you’re building technology to replace people.” Some professions – such as coders, customer service representatives and data-entry workers – are especially vulnerable to AI’s ability to automate tasks, according to Anthropic’s own labor market analysis released in March. A survey published by nonprofit AI research center Epoch AI last month found that 20% of full-time workers in the US said AI has taken over parts of their job . Dario Amodei himself, CEO of Anthropic, has warned of an apocalyptic loss of white-collar jobs in the coming years. ‘Vatican-washing’ There’s a risk that Anthropic’s engagement with the Vatican could remain superficial and lead to a “feelgood” discourse without critical self-examination, for both sides, says Paolo Carozza, a law professor at Notre Dame law school and co-chair of the Meta Oversight Board. “This is Anthropic’s brand, right? That’s how they’re distinguishing themselves, by aligning themselves with the more safety and responsibility oriented voices. There’s something to be gained by saying, ‘Look, even the pope is willing to talk to us because of [our pro-safety brand]. Google wasn’t on the stage and OpenAI wasn’t on the stage,’” Carozza says. Carozza remains hopeful