By Avi Salzman
Pope Leo XIV made an impassioned case against the harms of artificial intelligence and data centers in a widely followed letter, adding to the industry's growing public-relations problem.
His message adds a powerful voice to the burgeoning resistance to the technology and comes at an inconvenient time for the AI industry. Opposition movements have been able to quash billions of dollars worth of projects this year. Just last month, privately held Compass Datacenters, which is backed by Brookfield Asset Management, pulled out of attempts to build an over 800-acre Virginia campus after opposition and increasing regulations.
Such backlash threatens the entire industry, from tech companies like Microsoft to power providers like Dominion Energy.
In his encyclical letter released Monday, the pope warned about AI's environmental and social impacts.
"Current AI systems require enormous amounts of energy and water, significantly influencing carbon dioxide emissions, and place heavy demands on natural resources," he wrote.
The pope wrote that tech companies can reduce their impact by using cleaner energy sources.
"It is essential to develop more sustainable technological solutions that reduce environmental impact and help protect our common home," he wrote.
Tech companies say they're funding clean energy installations, but the AI boom has done more to lift natural gas power plants than renewable ones so far. Scrutiny on those choices is bound to grow even more.
The pope could keep moving the anti-AI needle, as the head of the Catholic Church often can shift public opinion. For instance, Pope Francis' warnings about climate change helped that movement gain adherents.
Lately, AI proponents have been pushing a message that the technology's opponents are being funded by outside sources. Kevin O'Leary, the TV personality known as "Mr. Wonderful," has been dealing with broad pushback to a massive data center campus in Utah that he is backing. Over the last few days, he has claimed that China was funding much of the opposition against the joint venture.
But the sheer breadth of the opposition movement shows that concerns have spread well beyond one or two groups. A Gallup poll taken in March found that 70% of Americans don't want AI data centers to be constructed near them.
Fourteen states are debating moratoriums on new data centers, according to The National Conference of State Legislatures. The White House wants to override state-level actions against AI, but Congress is split on the issue, with Sen. Bernie Sanders introducing a moratorium bill in Congress.
"My Administration must act with the Congress to ensure that there is a minimally burdensome national standard -- not 50 discordant State ones," wrote President Donald Trump in a December executive order.
Pope Leo's warnings about AI also go beyond the environmental toll. He warned about "new forms of slavery" driven by the need for minerals in the tech supply chain, and dehumanization caused by the growing supremacy of technology.
"If technology becomes the ultimate criterion, the human person risks being reduced to data, a cog in a machine or a commodity," he wrote.
Write to Avi Salzman at avi.salzman@barrons.com
This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 26, 2026 12:50 ET (16:50 GMT)
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