David Sacks, the former White House "Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Cryptocurrency Czar," called Pope Leo XIV's encyclical emphasizing AI regulation "a correct warning," but cautioned that "if the government takes control of AI, it could be abused as a tool for citizen censorship and surveillance."
According to U.S. business publication Business Insider on the 25th (local time), Sacks said via the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) that day: "The Pope correctly warned that AI must serve human dignity rather than become a tool of domination or exclusion." He added, "But if we hand the government broad authority over AI development in the name of safety, how can we prevent AI from being used to censor, surveil, and control citizens, as Orwell predicted in his novel '1984'?"
Citing the maxim that "absolute power corrupts absolutely," he stressed that "the oldest questions about human nature and authority do not disappear simply because we are in the age of AI."
Sacks, a Silicon Valley technology investor and former PayPal co-founder, was appointed in December 2024 by then President-elect Donald Trump as the White House's head of AI and cryptocurrency policy. After stepping down from the post in March, he moved to serve as co-chair of the White House science and technology advisory board.
Earlier, the Pope, through an encyclical titled "Magnifica Humanitas" (Great Humanity), stressed that "government regulation must be strengthened and AI must be disarmed so that AI cannot dominate humans."
"We are already deeply embedded in the environment of AI, and AI has now become an unavoidable and powerful force," the Pope said. "That is why regulation that merely binds it through law is insufficient. We must disarm AI so that anyone can approach it safely and easily."
At the event unveiling the encyclical, the Pope invited Chris Olah, co-founder of the AI company Anthropic. Anthropic has previously clashed with the Trump administration over the issue of military uses of AI.
Meanwhile, the Pope is known to have held strong concerns about AI even before his accession. His choice of the papal name "Leo XIV" is reportedly connected to this. The Vatican explained at the time of his accession that the new papal name was meant to carry on the legacy of Pope Leo XIII (reigned 1878-1903), who emphasized labor rights and social justice.
