Billionaire investor Peter Thiel accused Pope Leo XIV of acting as a “Chinese communist agent” by calling for international regulation of artificial intelligence (AI).
He argued such rules would slow the United States while leaving China free to advance.
The remarks came during a panel at the Aspen Ideas Festival in Colorado on 30 June 2026, alongside Francis Fukuyama. CNN first reported the comments on 2 July.
Thiel declared: “The Pope is working for the Chinese Communists.” The audience reportedly laughed.
Pope Leo XIV’s first encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, released on 25 May 2026, urged that AI “must be disarmed” to prevent domination of human life.
Signed on 15 May, it is the 135th anniversary of Rerum novarum. The document stressed safeguarding humanity, truth, dignity of work, social justice, and peace.
Thiel argued the encyclical might influence American policymakers but not Chinese leaders, creating uneven burdens in what he described as an AI race between Washington and Beijing.
Feud With Vatican And Wider Remarks
Thiel’s criticism continues a long‑running clash. Earlier in 2026, he gave private lectures in Rome on the Antichrist, prompting Catholic universities to distance themselves.
He has suggested the Antichrist could appear as a global government promising protection from threats like AI or climate change.
Theologian Massimo Faggioli said Thiel’s view reflects a Cold War mentality: “It’s the mentality of us being in a war, that whoever is not working with us is working for the enemy.”
David Gibson of Fordham University added that Thiel’s analogy showed his hostility to limits on his ambitions.
At Aspen, Thiel also claimed AI firm Anthropic would “rig the elections in 2028” to support Democrats, predicted a socialist takeover of the Democratic Party, and described the EU’s governance model as “like bad AI.”
