CNN: Peter Thiel directly criticized the Vatican, saying Pope Leo XIV was unintentionally acting as a “Chinese communist agent” by pushing for global AI regulation while speaking at the Aspen Ideas Festival in Colorado.

The pope’s warning treated AI as a power that needs international control before it harms humanity.

Thiel said rules would bind America faster than China, so restraint becomes strategic surrender.

Any pause by the US could help Beijing.

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edition.cnn. com/2026/07/02/us/peter-thiel-aspen-pope-china-ai-cec