Pakistan, May 26 -- Pope Leo urged governments to slow down and closely regulate the development of AI systems in his first major document, released on Monday, warning that they spread misinformation, prioritise conflict and risk leading the world down a path of unending war.

The first US pope also expressed concern at a Vatican event launching the text that some autonomous weapons systems have advanced "practically beyond any human reach to govern them". The event was also attended by Chris Olah, a co-founder of Anthropic, one of the world's top AI companies.

Leo, who has adopted a more forceful tone in recent months and has drawn the ire of US President Donald Trump after criticising the Iran war, made a range of impassioned appeals t...