For much of the twentieth century, the story of how humans arrived in North America felt settled. They came from Siberia, crossed a land bridge called Beringia, moved south as the ice sheets retreated, and gave rise to the Clovis culture about 13,000 years ago, the earliest widely accepted evidence of human presence on the continent. It was a well-organized, well-secured consensus. Then, in 2019, archaeologists digging in the gypsum dunes of White Sands National Park in New Mexico uncovered something from the ground that couldn’t be unanimously absorbed: a set of fossilized human footprints so old that they were buried in the soil during the peak of the last ice age, when the land bridge that those same humans were still waiting to cross had not yet opened.

How scientists determined the date of the footprints and why there was controversy over it

The original 2021 study, published in the journal Science, dates the footprints using radiocarbon analysis of seeds of an aquatic plant called Rupiah cirrhosa, found in sediment layers just above and below the tracks. The results placed the footprints, dated to 21,000 to 23,000 years ago, within the Coldest and most extreme phase of the last ice age, the Last Glacial Maximum, when vast ice sheets covered much of the Northern Hemisphere.The dates were immediately disputed. Critics argued that seeds of aquatic plants are unreliable radiocarbon markers because they can absorb ancient dissolved carbon from groundwater, a phenomenon known as the reservoir effect, which can make materials appear older than they actually are. The debate was so abstract as to cast real doubt on what was otherwise an historical discovery.

How did the White Sands footprints survive for 23,000 years?

White Sands National Park is located in the Tularosa Basin of southern New Mexico, a landscape today defined by fine white gypsum dunes, one of the most striking geological features in North America. Beneath those dunes lies a different world altogether: the dry bed of an ancient lake called Otero Lake, which existed during the last ice age when the area’s climate was wetter and cooler than today. It was along the muddy shoreline of that lost lake where the footprints were made and preserved.The track was excavated by a team from Bournemouth University in collaboration with the US National Park Service. They were found buried in several layers of sediment, pressed into ancient lakeshore soil and left there by people who walked, stood and moved along the shoreline thousands of years ago. Many of the tracks were made by children and teenagers, a detail that has left researchers quietly extraordinary, with young people preserving evidence about their lives in a landscape that no longer exists.

How independent studies finally settled the debate

The controversy prompted researchers to return to the site with completely different dating methods. A study published in Science in 2023, led by Jeff Pigati of the US Geological Survey, dated pollen grains and quartz crystals from the same sediment layers using two different techniques: optically stimulated luminescence and radiocarbon dating of the pollen. Both methods returned dates of 20,000 to 23,000 years ago, which were statistically indistinguishable from the original seed-based results.

What do the footprints mean for the Clovis I theory

The implications of the long-standing Clovis First model are significant and irreversible. The Clovis culture, named after a site near Clovis, New Mexico, where distinctive stone tools were found in the 1930s, was long thought to represent the earliest known human presence in North America, about 13,000 years ago. The footprints at White Sands are at least 8,000 years older than we thought.What is even more surprising is what time means in geographical terms. During the Last Glacial Maximum, the two primary corridors through which humans migrated to the Americas, the ice-free corridor east of the Rocky Mountains and the coastal route along the Pacific, were either blocked by ice sheets or were not yet accessible. If humans were already in New Mexico 23,000 years ago, they would have arrived before those routes closed, which suggests either a much earlier migration than any current models, or an alternative route across the continent that has not yet been identified.

What was roaming around White Sands 23,000 years ago

Footprints do not exist alone. The sediments at White Sands also contain traces of animals that shared the lakeshore with these early humans: mammoths, giant ground sloths, and ancient camels, all of which are now extinct. The picture that emerges is of a functioning Ice Age ecosystem: a lake surrounded by grass and wetlands, populated by megafauna, presumably hunted by the humans who lived with them.Vance Holliday, who has been working at White Sands since 2012, said it is “absolutely clear” that humans made these tracks. The question was never really whether the footprints were human. This was when. After four years of scientific debate, three independent dating methods, and three separate studies arriving at a single answer, at last, the question appears to be settled.

north korea A mix of tactical ballistic missiles, artillery rockets and AI-guided precision cruise missiles designed for modern warfare were tested on Wednesday, according to state news agency KCNA.The tests came a day after South Korea’s military said it had detected the launch of multiple projectiles, including a ballistic missile. The projectile reportedly traveled about 80 kilometers before landing in the Yellow Sea.KCNA said the launches were conducted to assess the power of “special mission warheads” mounted on tactical ballistic missiles, the reliability of long-range multiple-launch artillery rockets and the accuracy of AI-guided tactical cruise missiles.According to state agency, North Korean leader kim jong un Said, “The tests specifically confirmed the combat readiness of the cruise missiles that will be deployed in artillery units near the border with South Korea, which are equipped with precise navigation and AI-guided control that can attack targets at a distance of 100 km (62 miles).”He said, “It is an essential condition for our military operations that it must have such destructive power as to make it theoretically impossible for any encountering force to survive except by luck.”Analysts said the latest tests signal Pyongyang’s intention to strengthen its precision-strike capabilities below the nuclear threshold.“With the latest launch, Pyongyang is signaling that it intends to deploy such a weapon system in the event of war,” said Hong Min, an analyst at the Korea Institute for National Unification in Seoul. “It unleashes precise, long-range, self-propelled conventional firepower that is capable of striking the South even below nuclear range,” he said.According to Hong, North Korea’s claims probably refer to an upgraded version of an existing digital guidance system integrated with automatic target identification technology. The weapon system reportedly combines tactical cruise missiles, guided multiple-launch rocket systems and tactical ballistic missiles into a single precision-strike complex.According to Reuters, North Korea has supplied Russia with ballistic missiles and artillery rockets since late 2023, which Moscow is believed to have used in the war in Ukraine. Analysts believe battlefield use of those weapons has provided Pyongyang with valuable operational data to improve its missile arsenal.In April, Pyongyang conducted its eighth weapons test of the year to “verify the characteristics and power of a cluster bomb warhead,” state media reported at the time.

The rivalry between Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk has officially reached the moon. NASA announced Tuesday that it has chosen Bezos’ Blue Origin to perform the first in a planned series of three unmanned lunar missions aimed at preparing for a future moon base, awarding the company a contract worth about $230 million. The mission, which is not expected to take place before autumn 2026, will use Blue Origin’s Blue Moon cargo lander to transport scientific payloads and test technologies near the moon’s south pole. While SpaceX is deeply involved in NASA’s Artemis program, the decision marks a symbolic victory for Bezos in the increasingly intense billionaire battle shaping the future of space exploration.

Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin takes center stage in NASA’s moon base ambitions

For years, NASA’s idea of ​​creating a long-term human presence on the Moon existed mostly as an ambition tied to the Artemis program. Tuesday’s announcement showed the agency is now moving into the practical phase.NASA Administrator and entrepreneur Jared Isaacman said the first three unmanned missions will help test landers, rovers, cargo systems and survival technologies needed to support astronauts on the lunar surface in the future. More than a dozen additional missions are expected later as the agency works toward building an operational moon base sometime in the next decade.The first mission will target the Shackleton de Gerlache Ridge region near the moon’s south pole, an area scientists believe may contain water ice. NASA considers the area important because future explorers could potentially use the ice for drinking water, oxygen production, and rocket fuel.

Why did Blue Origin beat SpaceX on first mission?

Blue Origin’s selection is a big moment for Bezos, whose company has spent years trying to establish itself as a serious rival to Musk’s SpaceX.Although SpaceX dominates commercial launches and remains central to NASA’s future crewed Moon landings through its Starship Human Landing System, Blue Origin has consistently focused on lunar cargo systems and infrastructure. NASA said Blue Origin’s mission will help demonstrate key technologies such as autonomous landing systems and cryogenic fuel handling.The decision also reflects NASA’s growing strategy to encourage competition among private companies rather than relying on a single contractor. By involving both Blue Origin and SpaceX in lunar exploration, the agency hopes to accelerate innovation while reducing the risks associated with delays or technical setbacks.That competition has become increasingly personal. Bezos and Musk have spent years publicly criticizing each other’s vision for space flight while competing for government contracts, engineering talent and influence within the industry.

The moon is becoming the next great space battlefield

Behind the billionaire rivalry is a much larger geopolitical race. NASA is under pressure to accelerate lunar exploration as China continues to expand its own moon program and plans a future lunar research station.Earlier this year the Artemis II mission, which sent astronauts around the moon for the first time since 1972, reignited global interest in deep space exploration. NASA now hopes that its growing partnerships with private companies can help establish a permanent human presence on the Moon before rival countries do so.For Bezos and Musk, the stakes extend far beyond a contract. The company that helps create the systems that allow humans to live and work on the Moon could shape the future of the global space economy for decades.

In the largest renewable energy plan ever proposed by any country, China plans to develop the most extensive clean energy plants off its shores. From reports about this plan, it appears that China aims to develop 1,000 wind turbines with millions of solar panels, which will be built on an area located about 4,300 miles from mainland China. The initiative comes after China’s increasing focus on renewable energy, offshore solar power systems, wind power generation and long-distance electric power transmission. Given the fact that China is currently the leader in the production of solar panels and large-scale renewable energy projects, it seems that this renewable energy plant could revolutionize international energy cooperation.

How China is taking its renewable energy experience abroad

However, China’s efforts toward clean energy have extended beyond its borders. Over the past ten years, Beijing has made substantial investments in solar farms, offshore wind power and hybrid energy systems in other parts of Asia, Africa and the Middle East.This can be understood from the example of its achievements at the domestic level. In December 2025, China commissioned the world’s largest solar power station in Xinjiang province, consisting of more than 5.26 million solar panels and generating billions of kilowatt-hours of energy per year.According to PV Magazine International, the construction of the Midong solar project involved extensive infrastructure, such as transportation and distribution of electricity over large distances.This type of experience gained over the last ten years is currently being implemented abroad. According to the plan, the new mega project will include both large wind power plants and solar power sources, which will enable continuous power generation regardless of weather conditions.

Why is China investing in huge wind and solar projects?

The move toward renewable energy in China has been largely driven by energy security and economic planning considerations. President Xi Jinping has already announced that China plans to significantly increase its wind and solar power production as part of its emissions reduction strategy. Projects using renewable energy sources will help reduce China’s dependence on imported fossil fuels. This will give China the power to exercise better control over global infrastructure development.According to industry experts, the feasibility of combining wind turbines, solar panels and batteries has improved significantly in the last decade, due to lower costs. As a result, China has a distinct competitive advantage when it comes to building such projects on a large scale. China produces most of the world’s solar panels and wind turbine parts.In an analysis by World Economic ForumIt was reported that China is leading the world in investment in renewable energy, accounting for the largest growth of global clean energy.

offshore solar and long distance power transmission Industries are changing

Another unique aspect of renewable energy development in China is the sheer scale on which the technology is deployed. In late 2025, China will launch the world’s first gigawatt-scale offshore solar farm in Shandong province, officials said.The project was engineered by China Energy Investment CorporationCombining offshore solar farms with energy storage and marine engineering capabilities. According to officials, the plant was capable of producing about 1.78 billion kilowatt-hours annually. According to a spokesperson for the group, in 2026, it will focus on stabilizing coal supplies and upgrading coal-fired power plants, with relevant investments accounting for about 30 percent of the total.On another front, China continues to develop ultra-high voltage transmission lines capable of transmitting power several thousand miles with low losses. This technology will be important for renewable energy development in locations far from urban centers that require electricity.

A glimpse of the future of global energy

If the overseas renewable energy facility goes ahead on a large scale, it will certainly qualify as one of the major infrastructure initiatives in the renewable energy era. Building a project with 1,000 turbines and millions of photovoltaic panels would be much more than a giant source of electrical energy; This will be a testament to the international nature of renewable energy sources.In the Chinese context, the project involves much more than just generating power. Instead, it would mean that China is dedicated to becoming a leader in the worldwide transition to renewable energy.

The next few years are expected to reshape parts of the global wealth map in ways that do not always match familiar economic narratives. Some of the fastest movements in the billionaire population are projected to occur outside the typical Western centres, with changes associated with capital flows, policy changes, technological expansion and regional investment cycles. Some countries show unusually sharp percentage jumps rather than steady growth, indicating concentrated bursts of wealth creation rather than slow accumulation. The pattern is not uniform, and it does not follow a single model of development. Instead, it looks like a scattered boom across Asia, Europe, and the Middle East, each driven by different local engines and timing effects.As reported by the World of Statistics (ex Twitter) post, projections for 2026-2031 highlight a sharp increase in the billionaire population, with selected global economies expected to have the fastest growing number of billionaires by 2031.

Countries with fastest growing number of billionaires by 2031

Countries with the Highest Growth Rate of Billionaires Expected

saudi arabia

Saudi Arabia stands out with a leap that is far ahead of the rest of the list. This shift is often linked to ongoing economic diversification, where oil-related assets are increasingly deployed into new sectors such as logistics, tourism and large-scale infrastructure. Private capital is moving into areas that previously did not attract that level of attention.What makes this figure unusual is not just the shape but also the movement inherent in it. This suggests a relatively compact base of high-net-worth individuals that is growing rapidly rather than a broad, gradual spread.

poland

Poland ranked unexpectedly high due to a mix of manufacturing strength, technology outsourcing and deep integration with European supply chains. Wealth creation here feels less tied to old industries and more to new business structures, often as medium-sized companies enter global markets.There is also a sense of time. Capital that once flowed westward within Europe has begun to circulate more locally, allowing domestic entrepreneurs to maintain larger stakes in growing companies.

sweden

Sweden is showing steady growth rather than rapid disruption. Much of its billionaire growth is tied to technology, green industries, and export-heavy industrial clusters that have long operated internationally.The pattern here is less about sudden emergence and more about existing companies continuing to compound value in quiet ways. Ownership structures also matter, with long-standing family or founder shares increasing in value over time.

Australia

Australia represents a combination that is becoming increasingly visible: traditional resource wealth coupled with a growing technology sector. The luck associated with mining still plays a role, but new wealth clusters are forming around fintech, biotech and digital platforms.The growth rate suggests a system where capital cycles between old and new sectors without complete replacement. This overlap seems to be working quite well.

denmark

Denmark does not typically feature heavily in the global wealth discussion, yet the projected growth points to strong performance in companies involved in specialized industrial design, pharmaceuticals and renewable energy.It is a relatively small economy, which may exaggerate percentage movements, but the underlying businesses tend to be globally rather than domestic-facing.

Japan

Japan shows a more modest climb than emerging markets, but it is still notable given the already established wealth base. This shift is often linked to the impact of corporate restructuring, new shareholder focus and the gradual reopening of parts of its economy.Here wealth creation proceeds through large corporate ecosystems rather than fast-moving startup cycles.

Mexico

Mexico shows a mix of manufacturing expansion, particularly tied to near-term trends, and long-standing industrial houses expanding their reach. Proximity to US supply chains has changed investment patterns in subtle but persistent ways.Growth is not spread evenly, with some regions and sectors growing while others remain stagnant.

philippines

The Philippines is benefiting from service-based expansion, including outsourcing, remittance-linked consumption, and a gradually growing digital economy.Wealth accumulation here is often linked to service networks rather than heavy industry, giving it a different rhythm than resource-based economies.

norway

Norway shows more modest growth, shaped by energy-related capital and sovereign wealth effects. While not explosive, it remains stable, with wealth often concentrated in long-term holdings rather than rapidly traded sectors.

India

India features in the list with a lower percentage growth than some peers, albeit with a much larger base of entrepreneurs and family wealth. Technology services, digital platforms and manufacturing expansion all contribute to this movement.Growth feels distributed rather than concentrated, causing percentage changes to often be over-measured even if the absolute numbers are important.

Pope Leo XIV has referenced one of the Bible’s most famous stories, the Tower of Babel, when warning about the rapid rise of artificial intelligence. In recent comments about AI ethics and global technological power, the pontiff compared the modern AI race to the ancient Biblical story of humanity attempting to build towers that reach to the heavens. The purpose of the comparison was to warn against uncontrolled ambition, concentration of power, and the pursuit of technological progress without moral responsibility. By referencing Babel, Pope Leo XIV highlighted concerns that artificial intelligence could deepen confusion, inequality and social division if developed without ethical boundaries and human oversight.

What is the Tower of Babel?

The Tower of Babel is a story from the Book of Genesis in the Bible. According to the legend, humanity once shared a single language and began building a city and a tower in the land of Shinar, often associated with ancient Mesopotamia. The builders said that they wanted to make a name for themselves and build a tower whose top would reach heaven.In the story, God confuses the language of the people so that they cannot understand each other, and creation stops. People are then scattered throughout the earth, and the place is called Babel, which the Biblical text associates with the confusion of human language. The story has traditionally been interpreted as a warning about human pride, ambition, and the limits of human power.

Why did Pope Leo XIV use the Babel comparison?

Pope Leo XIV used the Tower of Babel as a symbolic warning about the direction of modern technology, especially artificial intelligence. His comments focused on fears that AI could become a tool of excessive control and centralized power if governments and technology companies pursue innovation without ethical safeguards.The Pope suggested that, like the builders of Babel, modern society risks believing that it can overcome all limitations through technological progress alone. He warned that AI systems designed without accountability could undermine the truth, increase misinformation and diminish human individuality by treating people as data rather than human beings.The comparison also reflected concerns about global reliance on a small number of powerful AI developers. According to the Pope’s broader message, technology should serve humanity rather than dominate it.Over the centuries, the Tower of Babel has become an enduring symbol of failed human ambition, communication breakdowns, and the dangers of achieving power without knowledge. Pope Leo XIV’s AI warning shows how the ancient story is being used to explain modern global challenges.

Twitch streamer Hassanabi criticized Fox News after the network referenced the 2025 “Collargate” controversy involving his dog Kaia during a segment about his federal subpoena related to his trip to Cuba. Responding to the stream, Hasan accused the network of employing “literal stalkers” and called its coverage a “stalker operation.” He argued that the evidence had already refuted the key allegations and expressed disappointment when the controversy resurfaced months later.

Hassan Pikar found himself in the headlines again this week when a Fox News segment reignited the controversy that many viewers had previously written off from public discussion. The popular Twitch streamer reacted live to comments made during a broadcast that referenced allegations involving his dog, Kaya, while discussing an unrelated federal subpoena linked to his March 2026 trip to Cuba.The moment quickly gained popularity online. What appeared to be a passing comment during the segment turned into a sharp response from Hassanabi, who accused the network of focusing on a controversy that he believes has already been addressed.

Hassanabi responds after Fox News references dog collar controversy

During a recent livestream, Hasan watched a Fox News clip in which a reporter discussed his legal situation and then unexpectedly mentioned concerns about the so-called “Collargate” controversy. This comment appeared to take the dreamer by surprise.Responding to the segment, Hasan argued that mainstream outlets face stricter standards than social media users when discussing sensitive allegations.“They can’t even say it… because they’re worried about being sued. Isn’t that ridiculous? Fox News is trying to entertain it, but they can’t, like, completely say it because random… people chirping on the Internet, obviously, don’t have the same fear. But when you’re a mainstream media outlet, there’s a level of editorial control; so they can only point it out, they can’t completely lean into it. You know?”The streamer’s frustration grew when he saw references to his dog appear in the segment. He then said one of the most talked about lines in broadcast reaction.(A Fox News reporter says, ‘I made sure we had a picture of Kaia…’) This is crazy, brother! This is a Fox News Sunday program! What do you mean?! I literally have stalkers on the payroll, man!”

Hassanabi accuses Fox News of running a “stalker operation”

As the discussion continued, Hassan turned his attention to the excessive surveillance of his content and personal life. He refuted claims that Kaya spent all day sitting on his back during watercourses and argued that publicly available evidence already refutes that narrative.“Brother, your own stalker operation literally…destroyed the meta. Not only did it prove it’s a…vibration collar, but it also proved she goes on long walks all day! So, obviously, she…isn’t sitting behind me all day; she’s literally…out in pictures! I know, it doesn’t matter. None of that…matters. But Jesus Christ, dude! This is so weird!”The latest round comes amid ongoing tensions between Hassanabi and conservative media outlets. Meanwhile, the discussion has spread across streaming communities, and fellow creators and viewers continue to debate both the controversy and the media attention it has received.

The fictional misanthrope Dr. House often joked that if one could reason with religious people, there would be no religious people. Of course, the expert had made these comments before donald trump Became President, an event so devastating that it forced the world’s most openly religious man to act as a voice of reason.With the democratic powers of his home country electing the presidential version of Pope Alexander VI, a man whose foreign policy is based on nepotistic self-aggrandizement, the responsibility of providing moral guidance to his countrymen and much of the WENA world has fallen to the first American Pope. And now, like every manager in every corporate office, he too is talking about Artificial Intelligence. Thankfully, this is not the case with the enthusiasm of corporate heads who think AI can replace all kinds of redundant workers, so the only ones making money are CEOs and shareholders.In his first encyclical, titled Magnifica Humanitas, or Magnificent Humanity, the Pope warned about the dangers of Artificial Intelligence, comparing it to the Tower of Babel and saying: “Humanity, created by God in all its grandeur, faces today a critical choice: either build a new Tower of Babel or build the city in which God and humanity live together.”But what exactly is the Tower of Babel? What is an encyclopedia? Why is the Pope talking about Artificial Intelligence? And can he be a voice of reason against the largely atheist technocrats who can find Christ when it suits their narrative? And why are the sons of Abraham worried about deus ex machina? For those who live under a rock, or are more bothered by cockroaches or clubs, here’s a little primer.

The Tower of Babel Story

Most people who haven’t read the Bible from cover to cover may have first heard the term Tower of Babel in In one of the film’s more memorable scenes, Apocalypse hijacks the world’s nuclear arsenals and launches them into space before thundering: “You can shoot your arrows from the Tower of Babel, but you can never attack God!”The pulpy line takes an old religious myth and gives it a modern twist: the man points missiles skyward.

The Tower of Babel is a fictional Biblical allegory, what scholars call an etiological myth, in this case a story that explains why humanity speaks so many different languages. It appears in Genesis shortly after the story of Noah’s flood, when humanity is still imagined as a single people with one language. They settle in the land of Shinar and decide to build a city and a tower “whose top can reach the heavens” and which can ward off any floods. This is too much for an Abrahamic God who can’t stop his subjects from uniting against him, so he sends a gust of wind that makes the various workers unable to communicate with each other because, before Google Translate, when there is no common language, there is no way for people to work together.And then there’s the most famous name in that particular story: Nimrod, Noah’s great-grandson. Later Jewish, Christian, and Islamic traditions transformed Nimrod into a rebel-king who dared to challenge God and shot arrows into the sky to kill him. In some versions, the arrows return covered in blood, giving Nimrod the illusion that he has wounded the god.Reading: Why did Trump TACOed against the Pope? But, as Peter T Chataway writes in Patheos, the action of Apocalypse twists the familiar legend. Nimrod aims his arrows at God, while Apocalypse aims them at Heaven because he is a “false god”. And today, it is Pope Leo who in his new encyclical is comparing AI to the new Tower of Babel, with humans playing the role of God.This is a myth found in all civilizations, including the Hindu Shatapatha Brahmana, which describes the asuras building a huge fire altar of bricks in order to reach heaven before being betrayed by Indra. This story also finds its place in children’s stories along with Jack and the Beanstalk.This idea is found in all civilizations, reflecting unbridled human ambition, such as John Milton’s Paradise Lost, where the confusion of human language causes laughter in heaven, or Franz Kafka’s short story Das Stadtwappen, where the builder of Babel is surrounded by bureaucracy. Even in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, a “Babel fish” is a device that can be implanted in one’s ear to translate any extraterrestrial speech.

Why did Pope Leo call AI the new ‘Tower of Babel’?

Now, before anyone asks, an encyclical is a papal policy document, which Rome still brings up when it wants to convince the world that the opinions of the Roman Catholic Church matter. This is an extremely long Substack post generally addressed to Catholics and “people of good will.” Pope Leo’s first encyclical is titled Magnifica Humanitas, or Magnificent Humanity, and is approximately 42,300 words long, which suggests that the Vatican has also discovered that AI discourse cannot be contained in a thread, and that the document was not written or edited by ChatGPT. The lack of “it wasn’t X, it was Y” statements suggests it probably wasn’t.The document was formally signed on 15 May, the 135th anniversary of Rerum Novarum, Leo XIII’s great intervention during the Industrial Revolution. Leo first wrote when machines were replacing labour. Leo XIV is writing when machines are changing the meaning of labor and perhaps the human condition.

Digital Papyrus was released with Christopher Olah, co-founder of Anthropic, a self-named “good” AI company, resigning before his system was used to bomb people. As The New York Times noted, Leo has been talking about AI since the beginning of his papacy, warning cardinals that the Church must address the risks posed by technology to “human dignity, justice and labor.”Leo outlines the conflict between building a new Tower of Babel and building a city in which God and humanity can live together. Presenting Tower of Babel as a beta product launch, he argued that it was “conceived without reference to God”, “eliminated diversity”, and chose “homogenization over communion”.Pope is not entirely anti-AI, saying that it can “heal, connect, educate and protect”, but warns that the technology is “never neutral” because it regresses to those who “devise, finance, regulate and use it”. This sounds similar to the dichotomy previously found in AI, when our choice was between MechaHitler, the Grok bot that threatened users with graphic harm, or Black George Washington, where Gemini couldn’t imagine a world where anyone was white or male.Babel syndrome, Leo warns, is “the idolatry of profit that sacrifices the weak” and resides in the arrogance that “a single language – even a digital language – can translate everything, including the mystery of the individual, into data and display”.In his own way, the Pope is reminding people that they are more than the culmination of stray patterns that can be replicated by a machine. That is why Leo writes that Babel highlights the danger of any grand project that “sacrifices human dignity for the sake of efficiency and aspires to reach heaven without God’s blessing”. The old builders used brick and bitumen. The newcomers talk about chips, clouds, capital and the kind of missionary language usually reserved for people handing out leaflets at traffic lights. The promise is the same: one language, one system, one tower, one future, a small priesthood that will decide what counts as progress.And if that sounds too dramatic, Leo makes the warning clear elsewhere: “If, however, power grows while hearts dry up and human bonds break, then we are facing a new form of Babel – a creation that is grand, yet fundamentally inhumane.”Which is probably the Vatican’s way of saying it most: When God is gone from your heart, there is no point searching for God in heaven or trying to create Him out of thin air.

Abrahamic God vs. Deus Ex Machina – Old God vs. New

The term Deus Ex Makina is Latin for “God from the Machine”, usually used as a plot device when a character comes out of nowhere to save the day, e.g. Salman Khan In Pathan. In The Matrix universe, this term meets its logical conclusion, where Neo offers an olive branch to the literal Deus Ex Machina, the god of machines.Ergo, it is not particularly difficult to understand why the idea of ​​AGI, or a literal deus ex machina, is particularly troubling to the organized Abrahamic faiths, which all argue in their own way: You shall have no other gods before me.

“You shall have no other gods before me” is the basic operating system of all three major Abrahamic religions. This same sentiment is repeated in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, and there are different terms to describe its violations: idolatry, shirk, apostasy, and more. But perhaps the problem goes beyond God’s finding an Abrahamic alternative. It lies in creating a form of technology that makes us less human, no matter who we worship, or who we worship.Silicon Valley, our modern-day kingdom of kings, has always had the strangest relationship with theology, claiming to be secular, rational and data-driven while borrowing from the vocabulary of religious texts where the founders convince themselves that they are on a mission from God.As The New York Times notes, the Messiah series goes back decades. In an old joke, a programmer asks a computer, “Is there a God?” The computer replies: “Right now.”AI has simply upgraded that old sermon from a counterculture slogan to a trillion-dollar infrastructure where the keys to the kingdoms of heaven are such tormented creatures. Big Tech’s brothers keep human life close to the battery. They constantly devalue other human beings. They don’t think twice before firing thousands of people. They consider fellow humans as little more than guinea pigs. And many of them changed their ideology overnight to persuade, appease, and even worship the government of the day, as seen in the remarkable alacrity with which Big Tech abandoned vigilance as soon as Donald Trump won.Reading: Does Sam Altman think of humans as batteries? What can we expect from such stricken people? The problem is not chatbots writing bad poems or models hallucinating quotes, but the Babel instinct, where the world is imagined as a dystopian John Lennon song: one language, one system, one aristocracy, one idea of ​​progress, and the belief that humanity is nothing more than a series of data, performance, and predictions. The Vatican, for all its troubles, understands one thing that Silicon Valley has conveniently forgotten: False gods always demand sacrifices. And if the Singularity does come, that promised moment when man and machine merge, we wouldn’t want to see the kind of abomination we find on our hands.

There’s an interesting short story that shows what might have happened. In Arthur C Clarke’s The Nine Billion Names of God, monks painstakingly write down every name of God, which they believe number nine billion. It would take them 15,000 years to write down the names by hand, so they hire two computer experts who install a machine that can print out every name, and do so in 100 days. As soon as the last name was printed, they noticed that from above, without any fuss, the stars began to disappear, signaling the end of the universe. Hopefully, this will not be the fate of mankind when AGI is born.

Five Guys CEO Jerry Murrell admitted that he gave away $1.5 million bonuses to employees because he did not want to get shot.

Jerry Murrell, CEO of fast-food chain Five Guys, gave a $1.5 million bonus to all store employees. But the reason was not what anyone was expecting. The CEO was just scared and didn’t want to meet him.luigi mangione‘ anytime soon. Earlier this year, the CEO candidly admitted that his kindness was only to save his back and that he did not want to take the bullet.In February, Five Guys held a two-for-one promotion to celebrate their 40th anniversary. They thought it would be like another promotion but the response was unexpected. Their app crashed and many outlets had to quickly withdraw the offer.Toofan followed him on social media. The company apologized and resumed the offer after a break. “You came to our restaurant in huge numbers, and we were not prepared for you. We didn’t live up to our standards and that’s not something we take lightly. That’s why we’re asking for it to end,” a statement from the company in March read.Employees bore the brunt of consumer frustration, and that’s when Murrell, 82, decided to write his employees $1,500 checks ($1,000 per affected store), he said in an interview with Fortune.He joked, “I didn’t want anyone shooting in my back or anything after the first day, because we really screwed it up. We didn’t know we were going to get that kind of reaction.”Murrell said he took the money from funds he was going to use to buy a fur coat for his wife. “She still looks at me like I’m an idiot,” he said. “But I thought it was worth it. They worked so hard. They were so overwhelmed.”

‘Thank you Luigi’

Whenever a story of Murrell’s ‘kindness’ goes viral, social media users thank Luigi Mangione for the fear he instilled among CEOs. In 2024, UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was shot and killed and Luigi Mangione was charged with murder, although he pleaded not guilty.Commenting on Murrell’s story, one said, “At least he’s honest. Most CEOs just throw pizza parties; this guy chose a different kind of ‘insurance’ policy.” Another wrote, “Imagine being so rich that you can pay for peace of mind while eating a burger. The American Dream is truly thriving.”