Overview
- The invitation-only four-part series is underway through Wednesday with the press barred and the venue initially undisclosed.
- Father Paolo Benanti, an adviser to Pope Leo XIV on AI, denounced the talks as a “prolonged act of heresy against the liberal consensus,” a view echoed in Catholic media.
- The Angelicum and the Catholic University of America said they are not hosting or sponsoring the event, though invitations name the Vincenzo Gioberti Cultural Association and the Cluny Institute.
- Official schedules show no meetings with Pope Leo XIV or Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, while lawmakers in parliament have pressed for transparency over Palantir’s government links after reports of prior contracts.
- Local protests were reported and multiple outlets identified the venue as Rome’s Palazzo Taverna, as Thiel reiterates a thesis that a technocratic Antichrist could exploit fears about AI, climate change and nuclear war to centralize power.