Catholic priest warns against AI cartel and calls for democratic regulation

Father Paolo Benanti, a priest advising the Catholic Church on AI, warns that rapid AI development by major labs risks creating a 'cartel' excluding the public from shaping its future. He argues ethical debates should be open, not confined to corporate boards, and criticizes the industry's focus on superintelligence, which risks framing AI as divine rather than a statistical tool. He calls for democratic regulation to ensure human control over AI development. In May, Pope Leo XIV published an encyclical warning against technocratic logic and advocating for international collaboration to ensure AI serves the common good. Benanti urges the public to retain influence over AI's direction, cautioning that debates on existential risks could distract from broader goals. Benanti highlights geopolitical tensions between the US and China, where advanced AI models are being developed. Companies like OpenAI and Anthropic, while supporting a slowdown in development, are also preparing for public listings. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei calls for third-party evaluations and restrictions on distillation, while some advocate for a ban on recursive self-improvement. Benanti stresses that AI standards should not be set by labs, as this would entrench their market dominance.