--- description: Find out why Pope Leo XIV made TIME’s list of the most influential people in artificial intelligence. title: TIME100 AI 2025: Pope Leo XIV image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt45dfdc06b39565f3/6998c929e2d64b5b69c5f9b0/Pope-Leo-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Aug 26, 2025 # Pope Leo XIV Leader, Catholic Church by [Andrew R. Chow](/author/andrew-r-chow/) ## Andrew R. Chow Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Correspondent  Photo-Illustration by TIME (Source Photo: Maria Grazia Picciarella—SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty Images) The Catholic Church comprises 1.4 billion believers; were it a nation, the church would be the world’s third-largest. In his first formal speech as its new leader in May, Robert Francis Prevost addressed those adherents as Pope Leo XIV, a papal name chosen in part to meet a revolution: [that of AI](https://time.com/7285449/pope-leo-artificial-intelligence/ "undefined"). His name choice is a tribute to Leo XIII, who served during the Industrial Revolution at the close of the 19th century, and railed against the new machine-driven economic systems converting workers into commodities. Upon assuming the papacy in May, Leo XIV told the world that as artificial intelligence ushered in a “new industrial revolution,” the technology would require the “defense of human dignity, justice and labor.” He’s already making good on his vow. In June, the Vatican hosted a convening on AI, ethics, and corporate governance. Leo XIV’s keynote [speech](https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2025-06/pope-leo-on-ai-exceptional-tool-but-cannot-forget-human-dignity.html "undefined") underlined AI’s potential as a force for good, particularly in healthcare and scientific discovery. But AI “raises troubling questions on its possible repercussions on humanity’s openness to truth and beauty, on our distinctive ability to grasp and process reality,” he added. And he warned that the technology could be misused for “selfish gain at the expense of others, or worse, to foment conflict and aggression." Under Pope Francis, the Vatican had pushed for a binding international treaty on artificial intelligence, sending the world’s tech CEOs into a defensive crouch. If Leo XIV continues to marshal the world’s Catholics against AI's alienating potential, Silicon Valley faces a formidable—and unexpected—spiritual counterweight. Pope Leo XIV: The 100 Most Influential People in AI 2025 ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/time100-ai-2025/7305807/pope-leo-xiv/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/time100-ai-2025/7305807/pope-leo-xiv/"},"headline":"Pope Leo XIV","datePublished":"2025-08-26T19:57:25.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T11:54:41.177Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/time100-ai-2025/7305807/pope-leo-xiv/","keywords":["Tech","list","franchise","Magazine","Special Project","sponsorshipblock","Accolades","TIME100 AI 2025"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt45dfdc06b39565f3/6998c929e2d64b5b69c5f9b0/Pope-Leo-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Andrew R. Chow","jobTitle":"Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/andrew-r-chow/"}],"creator":"Andrew R. Chow","articleSection":"Business","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt45dfdc06b39565f3/6998c929e2d64b5b69c5f9b0/Pope-Leo-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/business/","name":"Business"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-tech/","name":"Tech"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/time100-ai-2025/7305807/pope-leo-xiv/","name":"Pope Leo XIV"}}]}] ```