
Why the Pope is taking on Silicon Valley and AI
From The Times Tech Podcast by The Sunday Times
May 28, 2026 · 34 min
About this episode
The episode discusses the Pope's warning about Big Tech's power and its implications for AI, alongside social media regulations and nuclear fusion as a clean energy source.
Pope Leo has warned that Big Tech has too much power over humanity’s future. Danny Fortson and Mark Sellman discuss what his warning on AI means and why Anthropic was at the Vatican. Meanwhile, in the UK, Sir Keir Starmer is weighing tougher rules on children’s social media use after doctors compared its harms to smoking. Plus, the CEO of Proxima Fusion talks about how to power AI by recreating the reaction that powers the sun. Is nuclear fusion the future of clean energy? Get in touch: techpod@thetimes.co.uk Producer: Marnie Duke Executive Producer: Priyanka Deladia Image: Getty Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
People in this episode
Host: Danny Fortson
Guest: Mark Sellman
Topics covered
- AI
- Big Tech
- social media
- nuclear fusion
- clean energy
- Vatican
Keywords
- Pope Leo
- AI
- Big Tech
- social media
- nuclear fusion
- clean energy
- Proxima Fusion
- Sir Keir Starmer
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Anthropic, Proxima Fusion, Big Tech
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