Report: Anthropic's Chris Olah threatened to walk out of Pope's AI event over model consciousness
AnnaCiaunica · x · 2026-10-05
Per a New York Times report, Anthropic co-founder Chris Olah threatened to walk out of Pope Leo XIV's AI encyclical launch in May after the pope rejected the idea that machines can be conscious; his team then privately lobbied the pope's advisers to take model consciousness seriously. Anthropic has also courted theologians under NDAs.
Researcher David Stout counters that current models are large statistical token predictors with no evidence of subjective experience, unified agency, or persistent self-models — anthropomorphic outputs are imitation of human self-description, not evidence of an inner life — and leaders claiming consciousness are unfit to govern AI.
Related event: Anthropic Reportedly Lobbies Vatican Over AI Consciousness(2 posts)→
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