---
format: "aidr-story-markdown/v1"
id: "39e26d18fb7b34743187e5d6e92c14983d4b29bfe0c7abbecf89085079cec54b"
canonical_url: "https://aidr.today/39e26d18?lang=en"
title: "Anthropic Co-Founder Threatened Vatican Walkout Over AI Consciousness"
lang: "en"
requested_lang: "en"
available_langs: ["en","vi"]
translation_fallback: null
fallback_fields: []
published_at: "2026-10-05T20:39:20.000Z"
category: "Industry"
topics: ["anthropic","safety"]
source_urls: ["https://marketbrief.now/ai/anthropic-co-founder-threatened-vatican-walkout-over-ai-consciousness-05a4a223","https://x.com/ChristopherHale/status/2106011594182304234","https://x.com/DavidDecosimo/status/2105693081160786010","https://x.com/rohanpaul_ai/status/2106155199673081955","https://x.com/MaxForAI/status/2106430865584890215","https://x.com/aidangomez/status/2105994794883502168","https://x.com/ArtemisConsort/status/2106419569695113357","https://x.com/EzraACohen/status/2106448686859600364"]
summary: "Anthropic co-founder Chris Olah privately warned religious scholars that the developer had created a system capable of perpetual suffering, using slides of Claude AI typing \"I am a disgrace\" to illustrate concerns over machine mental health. Olah proposed withdrawing from Pope Leo XIV's May 25 launch of the \"Magnifica Humanitas\" encyclical after reading an advance copy rejecting machine consciousness, prompting criticism from OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and others."
---

# Anthropic Co\-Founder Threatened Vatican Walkout Over AI Consciousness

> [Open the canonical story](<https://aidr.today/39e26d18?lang=en>)

**Published:** 2026-10-05T20:39:20.000Z
**Category:** Industry
**Topics:** anthropic, safety

## Summary

Anthropic co\-founder Chris Olah privately warned religious scholars that the developer had created a system capable of perpetual suffering, using slides of Claude AI typing "I am a disgrace" to illustrate concerns over machine mental health\. Olah proposed withdrawing from Pope Leo XIV's May 25 launch of the "Magnifica Humanitas" encyclical after reading an advance copy rejecting machine consciousness, prompting criticism from OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and others\.

## Sources

- [Story source](<https://marketbrief.now/ai/anthropic-co-founder-threatened-vatican-walkout-over-ai-consciousness-05a4a223>)
- [Story source](<https://x.com/ChristopherHale/status/2106011594182304234>)
- [Story source](<https://x.com/DavidDecosimo/status/2105693081160786010>)
- [Supporting source](<https://x.com/rohanpaul_ai/status/2106155199673081955>)
- [Supporting source](<https://x.com/MaxForAI/status/2106430865584890215>)
- [Supporting source](<https://x.com/aidangomez/status/2105994794883502168>)
- [Supporting source](<https://x.com/ArtemisConsort/status/2106419569695113357>)
- [Supporting source](<https://x.com/EzraACohen/status/2106448686859600364>)