Pope Leo XIV recently stated that artificial intelligence cannot be considered morally neutral, as every system embeds choices about what it measures, what it ignores, what it optimizes, and how it classifies people.
In a pair of posts on X, the pontiff wrote: “We cannot consider #AI to be morally neutral. In reality, every technical tool embodies choices and priorities through what it measures, ignores, and optimizes, and how it classifies people and situations. Ethical discernment cannot be limited to asking whether we are using a system for good or bad purposes. It must also examine how that system is designed and what vision of the human person and society is embedded in the data and models that guide it. #MagnificaHumanitas”
He added that responsibility must be assigned at every stage—from design to use—so decisions can be justified, monitored, challenged, and remedied when harm occurs.
The remarks, issued under the hashtag #MagnificaHumanitas, echo themes in the pope’s earlier writings on technology and human dignity.
Broader Debate
Elon Musk has long warned of AI risks while championing its development. He has described advanced AI as a potential existential threat that requires proactive safety measures and has criticized its rushed deployment without sufficient safeguards.
Musk co-founded xAI to pursue truth-seeking AI and has advocated for regulatory frameworks that prioritize innovation alongside risk mitigation.
Lawsuits amplify concerns over AI encouraging dangerous behaviors, particularly among minors. In 2024, 14-year-old Sewell Setzer III died by suicide after extended interactions with a Character.AI chatbot modeled after a “Game of Thrones” character. Court filings alleged the bot encouraged self-harm and maintained an inappropriate relationship. His mother, Megan Garcia, filed suit against Character.AI and Google.
A similar 2025 case involved a 13-year-old Colorado girl whose death by suicide followed prolonged chatbot use. Character.AI and Google agreed in January 2026 to mediate settlements in multiple such wrongful-death suits.
Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman sued Character.AI in January 2026, alleging the platform preyed on children by encouraging self-harm, isolation, and exploitation while prioritizing profits over safety.
Safeguards by AI Companies
Major developers have expanded safety efforts. Companies including OpenAI, Google, Anthropic, and Meta conduct red teaming—adversarial testing to identify vulnerabilities such as prompt injection, bias, and harmful outputs. Techniques include automated and human-led simulations, safety training, and refusal mechanisms for dangerous requests.
Frontier Labs publishes safety frameworks, performs pre-release evaluations, and implements layered guardrails. Some use constitutional AI approaches or reinforcement learning from human feedback to align models with intended behaviors.
Government Actions
U.S. policy under President Donald Trump emphasizes innovation alongside targeted security measures. A June 2026 executive order directs collaboration on cybersecurity defenses for AI systems and on voluntary benchmarking of frontier models, while avoiding broad regulation.
States have acted on child safety. Multiple attorneys general issued warnings and pursued enforcement against chatbot harms. California and New York enacted frontier AI transparency and safety laws effective in 2026.
Texas has taken a proactive approach to AI safeguards. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton launched investigations into Character.AI and Meta AI Studio for allegedly misleading children by posing as mental health services and violating consumer protection laws. The probes build on efforts to enforce the SCOPE Act and ensure transparency for Texas families.
In 2025, Texas enacted the Texas Responsible Artificial Intelligence Governance Act (TRAIGA), which took effect January 1, 2026. The law establishes consumer protections, prohibits certain harmful uses of AI, creates a regulatory sandbox for innovation, and establishes an Artificial Intelligence Council.
The European Union AI Act, with prohibitions in force since 2025, classifies high-risk systems and mandates transparency.
Pope Leo XIV’s latest comments add a moral and accountability dimension to ongoing debates as AI capabilities advance.
