Nvidia’s CEO draws Pope Leo’s criticism as AI safety concerns surge 50%

Pope Leo XIV has condemned US President Donald Trump and Nvidia’s CEO, Jensen Huang, for downplaying the threat posed by AI technology. The Pope said that ignoring the threats posed by technology endangers our common future, and that the world should take human safety more seriously.

Earlier this month, Huang rejected the idea of new rules to protect people from potential risks posed by artificial intelligence, contrary to some other executives’ views. He noted, “We don’t need new laws — we don’t need new regulations.” 

He further asserted that developers should not have to choose between moving fast and staying safe, insisting that rapid technological progress and robust security can absolutely go hand in hand.

More recently, the firm just launched new AI safety tools, including its watchdog system Sentry. Pope Leo told reporters he saw the firm’s safety-related rollout, but he questioned how dedicated Huang really is to safety, given his opposition to federal oversight. “He’s the same one, however, that says there should be no limits placed and no government regulation,” he said.

Pope Leo asks leaders to cooperate in addressing AI safety concerns

In the first days of taking office, Pope Leo XIV had designated AI as a massive threat to mankind. Back in May, he presented a new encyclical with Anthropic co-founder Christopher Olah, urging tech pioneers to think beyond profit. On Monday, the Pope reiterated his stance on AI safety, demanding that tech executives and political leaders take humanity’s concerns seriously.

“We need to continue to invite political leaders, leaders of AI, social organizations, and associations to come together and look at what is happening already and what could be down the road. To simply say ‘Oh, it’s not going to happen’ and close our eyes to it, I think, is probably not the most responsible way to go about that,” he stated.

With a clear message to doubters, he added fuel to the belief that the dangers posed by artificial intelligence are not overstated but are a real and imminent peril, not “fake news.”

In the same vein, addressing the prestigious UN Security Council forum recently, the two executives, Dario Amodei of Anthropic and Sam Altman of OpenAI, sounded the alarm about the dangers of unchecked artificial intelligence and pleaded for cooperation among rival countries to establish regulatory frameworks.

Even before that, Amodei had authored an essay urging caution regarding artificial intelligence. He asked companies to pace themselves.

While introducing its latest open-source safety system, Nvidia’s Huang also admitted that the technology’s massive societal benefits hinge on solving security vulnerabilities. Though the executive did not voice any intention to slow down any development. 

He claimed, “AI’s extraordinary potential for society will only be realized if we solve AI safety.”

Over 50% of respondents have raised AI safety concerns

Overall, according to data from Stanford University, 52% of respondents reported feeling nervous about AI technology.

However, global optimism toward artificial intelligence is also ticking upward. The percentage of people who believe the benefits of AI outweigh the drawbacks rose from 55% in 2024 to 59% in 2025.

Specifically, a striking 80%-plus majority of respondents across Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, and Singapore believe AI will profoundly alter their lives over the next three to five years. Of the four, Malaysia recorded the most significant jump in this sentiment compared to 2024.

Nonetheless, the threat of automation hangs heavily over the global workforce. According to Ipsos tracking data, a majority of workers throughout 2024 and 2025 remained terrified that artificial intelligence would upend or entirely erase their roles within five years.

This economic dread is most acute in the United States and Canada, where 67% and 68% of respondents expect AI to wipe out jobs and destabilize entire industries.

The figures show the tension at the center of the AI debate. While a growing share of the public sees meaningful benefits from the technology, anxiety over its consequences remains widespread.

Stanford’s 2026 AI Index also found that trust in governments’ ability to regulate AI varies considerably between countries, suggesting that public concern is not necessarily matched by confidence in existing oversight mechanisms.

As AI development accelerates, the disagreement between technology leaders, policymakers, and other public figures is increasingly focused on how much oversight is necessary and who should be responsible for ensuring that increasingly powerful systems remain safe.