Pope Leo says AI risk warnings are not 'fake news', criticises Nvidia's Huang
On the papal flight from Metz to Rome, Pope Leo XIV said AI experts' concerns "should be taken seriously" and questioned Jensen Huang, who he said opposes limits and regulation.
Pope Leo XIV said on Monday that concerns about AI destroying the world are not "fake news" and should be taken seriously, Reuters reported. He spoke to reporters aboard the papal plane as he left France at the end of a four-day visit, in what several outlets read as a rebuke of President Donald Trump.
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"I do think that the concerns raised by many of the experts, specialists in AI, should be taken seriously," the pope said, according to Al Jazeera. "I don't think that that is fake news, as some have said, to try and cause whether financial or some other kind of benefit." Trump has called AI safety fears a "hoax".
The pope also named Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang. He said he had read that day that Huang had announced a way to insert guardrails into certain AI models. But Huang is "the same one, however, that says there should be no limits placed and no government regulation", the pope said, according to the reports.
Huang told CBS News this month that he agreed with Trump that AI safety concerns were overblown, the reports say. Nvidia launched an agent safety platform on Monday that it says can contain rogue AI agents within milliseconds. Nvidia has not commented on the pope's remarks in the coverage reviewed.
Leo has made AI a signature issue. Al Jazeera reports he launched an encyclical on the subject in May alongside Anthropic co-founder Chris Olah. He told reporters the world cannot "just sit back and pretend nothing's going to happen", and urged leaders to promote dialogue and study.