Anthropic's Olah nearly pulled out of Vatican AI event over pope's anti-AI-consciousness encyclical
JacquesThibs · x · 2026-10-03
Per the NY Times, speakers including Anthropic's Olah saw an advance copy of the pope's encyclical days before the May Vatican AI event. Alarmed by its strong stance against AI consciousness, Olah proposed pulling Anthropic out even at that late stage. They ultimately attended, deciding to support the event while being honest about their disagreements. The poster agrees hesitation was fair given statements that could lead to mass suffering.
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