Father Paolo Benanti, a Catholic priest and AI adviser, argues that major AI companies are using fears about superintelligence to exclude the public from debates about regulation. He says rules governing powerful AI should be democratically developed, rather than set by a small group of companies whose commercial interests could amount to “cartel” behaviour.

Benanti supports standards ensuring AI remains under human control, but is wary that restricting development methods could suppress innovation. He questions dramatic claims about superintelligence, noting the billions at stake, US-China rivalry and companies’ ambitions to dominate the market; his views come as Pope Leo XIV makes AI the subject of his first encyclical, although Benanti does not formally represent the Vatican.