A Trump Official Finally Comments On Pope's AI Encyclical—Says Data Centers Are ‘Positive For Humanity’
Key takeaways
- Interior Secretary Doug Burgum criticized Pope Leo XIV for "tech editorializing" in his encyclical on AI.
- In a more than 42,000-word manifesto released Monday, Leo offered a stark warning about the development of AI technology and called on world leaders for greater regulation to protect human dignity.
- Pope Leo Paints Bleak AI Future—With 'Tower Of Babel’ Warning—Without Human Control (Forbes)
Topline Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum questioned why Pope Leo XIV is “tech editorializing” after he released a 42,000-word manifesto offering bleak warnings about the risks of AI, marking another fracture between the Trump administration and the Vatican, who have clashed over the Iran war in recent weeks.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum criticized Pope Leo XIV for "tech editorializing" in his encyclical on AI. (Photo by Jim WATSON / AFP via Getty Images)AFP via Getty Images Key Facts Burgum, in an appearance on “Mornings with Maria” on Fox Business Tuesday, said, “I didn’t know that tech editorializing was part of the role of being pope,” after host Maria Bartiromo asked about the pope’s encyclical that sounds the alarm about AI.
Burgum defended the construction of AI data centers, which require massive amounts of energy, as “positive for humanity,” a contrast to the pope’s call for AI to be “disarmed” to prevent the technology from “dominating humanity.”