Pope Leo XIV Warns on AI in Paris, and the Marche's Small Firms Listen

Pope Leo XIV warned in Paris this week that artificial intelligence risks reducing human life to a 'paradise of machines', speaking at the Élysée Palace at the start of a four-day state visit to France, according to Al Jazeera and Le Monde. The pope also condemned surrogacy, the buying of organs and what he called the concept of 'arranging one's own death', Le Monde reported from the Paris speech. Politico Europe noted that he defended freedom of conscience without naming France's populist forces.

The visit has drawn crowds in the French capital, with Le Monde reporting cheers for the pope after his warning on technology. The New York Times framed the trip as an attempt by Leo XIV to appeal both to Roman Catholicism's older European heartlands and to its newer strongholds, after his earlier visit to Africa. France 24 reported that the Vatican's recent excommunication of followers of the Society of Saint Pius X has revived a longstanding feud within the Church ahead of the visit.