Historically close to Peter Thiel, the American vice president expressed appreciation for ‘Magnifica Humanitas’. In view of the 2028 elections, he will therefore have to find a synthesis between faith and national security, between the reasons of Silicon Valley and those of the working class
JD Vance has warned of the risks of artificial intelligence applied to the military sector. “As artificial intelligence transforms the battlefield – in some ways positively, in others not – I ask you to be jealous and selfish about your role as decision makers in war,” he said, giving a speech at the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs on Thursday. “Use technology to improve yourself, but never submit to it. You are the masters of war. And both your minds and your hearts are the opposite of artificial,” he added. Not only that. In an interview given to NBC News on Tuesday, the American vice president had particularly positive words for Magnificent Humanitasthe encyclical on Artificial Intelligence recently published by Leo XIV. “What I read seems very profound to me, and just the kind of thing you would expect and hope for from a Church leader,” he said.
Vance’s latest positions appear particularly significant, especially in light of the fact that, at one time, the vice president seemed much less skeptical about the artificial intelligence sector. “We believe that over-regulation of the AI sector could stifle a transformative industry just as it is taking off,” he said in February 2025. However, exactly one year later he stated: “I am concerned about companies using AI to surveil Americans. I am concerned about privacy violations, I am very concerned about political bias.”
In all this, two decisive factors should not be overlooked. Vance is historically sponsored by Palantir founder Peter Thiel, who, in 2024, played an important role in convincing Donald Trump to choose the then Ohio senator as his running mate. On the other hand, it should not be overlooked that the number two in the White House is Catholic. All this helps to explain the tension he is experiencing on the topic of artificial intelligence. If Thiel is notoriously against regulations in the sector, Leone, in his encyclical, considers them necessary. And be careful: the issue concerns the entire Trump administration. White House technology advisor David Sacks recently blocked an executive order that would have introduced limitations, however mild, to the hyper-technological sector.
Limitations that, on the other hand, according to Politicalwould instead have been hoped for by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles. Not to mention that a part of the Maga world, especially that linked to the Catholic Church and the Protestant galaxies, has in the past called for restrictions on the AI sector. These environments appear concerned above all about the impact that artificial intelligence can have on working classas well as in matters of surveillance. On the other hand, the proponents of deregulation as Sacks and Thiel argue that introducing nooses would end up hobbling the United States in its geopolitical and technological competition with China.
Vance therefore finds himself at the center of this debate both for his Catholic faith and for his historical closeness to Thiel. Without neglecting that the electoral base of reference for the current US vice president is made up of those blue collar workers of the Rust Belt who, as mentioned, look with concern at the socio-economic impacts of AI. Vance must therefore move with extreme caution, especially in consideration of his presidential ambitions in view of the 2028 Republican primaries. In this sense, the number two in the White House is called to find a (not simple) synthesis between the needs of the working class and those of Silicon Valley, between the reasons of faith and those of national security.
It’s true: all this could appear as an element of weakness for the vice president compared to Marco Rubio who, also interested in nominations presidential election in 2028, does not appear to be afflicted by these problems. However, it is precisely by going through these doubts and difficulties that Vance could come to develop an answer for the Republican Party of the future. Which could ultimately strengthen him quite a bit in a possible primary challenge against the Secretary of State.
