Update: Vatican Publishes First AI Encyclical Featuring Anthropic

Update to materials from May 16-17. Religion has officially entered the regulation of artificial intelligence. On May 25, 2026, Pope Leo XIV published the Catholic Church's first-ever encyclical dedicated entirely to AI. The document strictly outlines the risks of military applications of neural networks, total surveillance systems, and the threat of human labor displacement.

The event is given special geopolitical weight by the fact that an official representative of the Anthropic lab was present at the document's presentation. This is a masterclass in corporate lobbying. While state authorities try to contain algorithms with laws, the creators of the Claude model are integrating themselves into the global moral agenda at the highest level. The publication of the encyclical forges a new international consensus: AI is no longer a purely technological problem; it has moved into the political and ethical plane, where the Vatican acts as one of the main arbiters.

Source: AP News / Vatican