--- title: Pope Leo urges a ban on lethal autonomous weapons before... description: Pope Leo XIV called for artificial intelligence to be 'disarmed', urging states to move toward banning lethal autonomous weapons before Geneva talks. He laid... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/pope-leo-urges-a-ban-on-lethal-autonomous-weapons-before-geneva-talks-isn4x0iqr twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Pope Leo urges a ban on lethal autonomous weapons before Geneva talks | daily.dev og:description: Pope Leo XIV called for artificial intelligence to be 'disarmed', urging states to move toward banning lethal autonomous weapons before Geneva talks. He laid... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/pope-leo-urges-a-ban-on-lethal-autonomous-weapons-before-geneva-talks-isn4x0iqr og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/isN4x0IQr.png og:image:alt: Pope Leo urges a ban on lethal autonomous weapons before Geneva talks og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Pope Leo urges a ban on lethal autonomous weapons before Geneva talks **[The Next Web](https://daily.dev/sources/tnw)** · 3 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary Pope Leo XIV called for artificial intelligence to be 'disarmed', urging states to move toward banning lethal autonomous weapons before Geneva talks. He laid out five points, including that machines are tools, not persons, rejecting any push to give AI systems rights or legal personhood. He said people must never hand decisions like target lists or border control databases to machines. The UN Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons holds its Seventh Review Conference in Geneva from 16 to 20 November. Mistral CEO Arthur Mensch has publicly rebutted the pope's stance on AI in warfare. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### What did Pope Leo XIV say about lethal autonomous weapons ahead of the Geneva talks? Pope Leo XIV called for AI to be 'disarmed' and urged states to move toward banning lethal autonomous weapons. He said decisions on human life, freedom and the use of force must always remain under human oversight, warning against letting machines generate target lists or manage border control databases. _Those tracking how governments plan to regulate military AI can follow the debate on daily.dev._ ### When is the UN Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons Review Conference happening in Geneva? The Seventh Review Conference of the UN Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons meets in Geneva from 16 to 20 November. States discuss lethal autonomous weapons under this convention, and Pope Leo XIV made his appeal to ban such weapons ahead of this meeting. _Anyone following international AI weapons policy can keep up with developments via daily.dev._ ### Does everyone in the AI industry agree with the pope's stance on AI and warfare? No. Mistral's chief executive, Arthur Mensch, has publicly rebutted the pope's position on AI in warfare, showing a split between religious and industry leaders on the ethics of military AI use. _Readers weighing differing industry views on AI ethics can track the debate on daily.dev._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [The Vatican is turning its AI campaign into permanent machinery this week](https://daily.dev/posts/the-vatican-is-turning-its-ai-campaign-into-permanent-machinery-this-week-zcqzvgpjc) · The Next Web · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Pope Leo Issues AI Manifesto Warning That ‘Opaque Algorithms’ Controlled by a ‘Few’ Companies Can Bring ‘New Forms of Dehumanization’](https://daily.dev/posts/pope-leo-issues-ai-manifesto-warning-that-opaque-algorithms-controlled-by-a-few-companies-can-br-uon4zyyls) · Hacker News · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [The pope’s AI encyclical isn’t really about AI](https://daily.dev/posts/the-pope-s-ai-encyclical-isn-t-really-about-ai-itl46onvr) · TechCrunch · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Pope Leo comes out against AI-generated art and calls for an alliance with artists](https://daily.dev/posts/pope-leo-comes-out-against-ai-generated-art-and-calls-for-an-alliance-with-artists-vz7nglnbi) · The Next Web · 1 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#ai-governance](https://daily.dev/tags/ai-governance), [#ethical-ai](https://daily.dev/tags/ethical-ai), [#ai-regulation](https://daily.dev/tags/ai-regulation) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/pope-leo-urges-a-ban-on-lethal-autonomous-weapons-before-geneva-talks-isn4x0iqr) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Pope Leo urges a ban on lethal autonomous weapons before Geneva talks","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/pope-leo-urges-a-ban-on-lethal-autonomous-weapons-before-geneva-talks-isn4x0iqr","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/pope-leo-urges-a-ban-on-lethal-autonomous-weapons-before-geneva-talks-isn4x0iqr"},"datePublished":"2026-10-31T21:25:15.349Z","dateModified":"2026-10-31T21:25:39.627Z","description":"Pope Leo XIV called for artificial intelligence to be 'disarmed', urging states to move toward banning lethal autonomous weapons before Geneva talks. He laid...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/272f69a31b3376b2639866fcc93307ff?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/272f69a31b3376b2639866fcc93307ff?_a=AQAEuop","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"The Next Web","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"The Next Web","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/t_logo,f_auto/v1/logos/tnw","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/tnw"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/pope-leo-urges-a-ban-on-lethal-autonomous-weapons-before-geneva-talks-isn4x0iqr","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":0},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"ai-governance,ethical-ai,ai-regulation","timeRequired":"PT3M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Next Web","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/tnw"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Pope Leo urges a ban on lethal autonomous weapons before Geneva talks"}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/pope-leo-urges-a-ban-on-lethal-autonomous-weapons-before-geneva-talks-isn4x0iqr#faq","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"What did Pope Leo XIV say about lethal autonomous weapons ahead of the Geneva talks?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Pope Leo XIV called for AI to be 'disarmed' and urged states to move toward banning lethal autonomous weapons. He said decisions on human life, freedom and the use of force must always remain under human oversight, warning against letting machines generate target lists or manage border control databases. Those tracking how governments plan to regulate military AI can follow the debate on daily.dev."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"When is the UN Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons Review Conference happening in Geneva?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"The Seventh Review Conference of the UN Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons meets in Geneva from 16 to 20 November. States discuss lethal autonomous weapons under this convention, and Pope Leo XIV made his appeal to ban such weapons ahead of this meeting. Anyone following international AI weapons policy can keep up with developments via daily.dev."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"Does everyone in the AI industry agree with the pope's stance on AI and warfare?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"No. Mistral's chief executive, Arthur Mensch, has publicly rebutted the pope's position on AI in warfare, showing a split between religious and industry leaders on the ethics of military AI use. Readers weighing differing industry views on AI ethics can track the debate on daily.dev."}}]} ```