Kudos to Pope Leo. I am disturbed by how some of my fellow AI researchers keep trying to elevate the moral standing of checkpoints and harnesses. I hope the rest of us on Team Meatbag reject this movement and stay focused on solving real problems and helping actual humans.
NEW: According to a bombshell report in the New York Times, Anthropic co-founder Chris Olah threatened to walk out of Pope Leo XIV’s AI encyclical launch in May because the pope rejected the idea that machines can be conscious.
Olah’s team then privately lobbied the pope’s advisers “to take the possibility of model consciousness seriously.” Pope Leo XIV held firm.
For months, Anthropic has wined and dined theologians and religious scholars under nondisclosure agreements, hoping they would bless the idea that Claude has moral standing. thelettersfromleo.com/p/nyt-…
Oct 2, 2026 · 8:41 PM UTC
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