What Pope Leo XIV’s First Encyclical Says About the Power of AI

Pope Leo XIV just dropped his first encyclical, and it's about AI. The document, called Magnifica Humanitas, takes direct aim at how much power a handful of tech companies have accumulated.

This isn't your typical Vatican statement about technology being good or bad. The Pope is specifically concerned about concentration. When a few global players control the most powerful AI systems, that creates risks for everyone else.

The timing matters. We're watching OpenAI, Google, Anthropic, and a few others race ahead while smaller players struggle to keep up. The Pope is essentially saying this power imbalance is a moral issue, not just a business one.

For anyone building with AI tools, this connects to real concerns about vendor lock-in and dependency. If your business relies on APIs from one or two providers, you're subject to their pricing, their policies, and their priorities.

The encyclical also reflects growing global unease about AI governance. Regulators in the EU, US, and elsewhere are grappling with the same question: how do you prevent a handful of companies from having outsized influence over a technology that affects everyone?

Whether you're religious or not, when the Vatican weighs in on tech power dynamics, it signals that AI concentration has moved from a niche policy debate to a mainstream concern about fairness and access.