Anthropic’s co-founder will speak at the Vatican launch of the pope’s AI encyclical

Pope Leo XIV to Launch AI Encyclical Magnifica Humanitas on 25 May with Anthropic Co-Founder Christopher Olah

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Anthropic’s Co-Founder to Speak at the Vatican Launch of the Pope’s AI Encyclical

May 18, 2026 – 4:27 pm

Image by: Shutterstock

TL;DR

Pope Leo XIV will personally present his first encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, on 25 May at the Vatican’s Synod Hall. Anthropic co-founder Christopher Olah, who leads the company’s interpretability research, will speak alongside cardinals and theologians at the launch of the document on AI and human dignity.

Pope Leo XIV will personally present his first encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, on 25 May at the Vatican, marking a break from tradition as he chooses to deliver it himself rather than delegating to cardinals or press officials.

Olah, who leads Anthropic’s research on interpretability—the effort to understand how advanced AI models operate internally—will be an unusual speaker at such an event. Encyclicals are among the highest forms of papal teaching, directed at the Catholic Church’s 1.4 billion members, and their publication events are typically formal ecclesiastical affairs.

What the Encyclical is Expected to Address

The full text has not been released, but its focus is becoming clear:

• Condemnation of AI use in warfare, leading to a “spiral of annihilation.”
• Impact on workers’ rights, echoing themes from Pope Leo XIII’s Rerum Novarum, addressing the condition of the working class during the first Industrial Revolution.

By signing Magnifica Humanitas on the 135th anniversary of Rerum Novarum, Leo XIV draws a direct parallel between industrialisation and AI’s disruptions, positioning the encyclical as a successor to the Church’s foundational economic text.