Global Nobel Laureates Assembly on AI and Nuclear War at Borgo Laudato Si’

Italy 2026

A man giving a speech, with a large conference banner behind him in a bright, glass-walled hall.

In his speech, Yoshiyuki Nagaoka, executive director of the Office of Public Affairs of the Soka Gakkai, said, “The capacity to heal people and our planet exists, not as something separate from ourselves, but within each of us.” [© benedetta guidantoni]

From July 14 to 16, Soka Gakkai representatives joined the Global Nobel Laureates Assembly on Artificial Intelligence and Nuclear War held at Borgo Laudato Si’ on the Vatican’s papal estate in Castel Gandolfo and Rome’s Capitoline Hill. Over the three days, some 200 people, including Nobel laureates, former heads of state, AI experts, faith representatives, and delegates from universities, research institutions and international organizations, gathered to discuss ethics, autonomous weapons and the nuclear threat. The event was supported by the Soka Gakkai, together with 11 other organizations and was inspired by His Holiness Pope Leo XIV’s May 2026 encyclical Magnifica humanitas that was dedicated to safeguarding the human person in the age of artificial intelligence.

On July 15, at a session titled “Faith and the Future of Humanity in the Age of AI and Nuclear Weapons,” Yoshiyuki Nagaoka, executive director of the Office of Public Affairs of the Soka Gakkai, gave a presentation. Other speakers included representatives from various faith traditions.

At the Capitoline Hill in Rome on July 16, "The Rome Declaration for an Unarmed and Disarming Peace in the Age of Artificial Intelligence, Nuclear and Autonomous Weapons, New Digital Protocols, and Emerging Models of Digital Development" was signed. The declaration calls for a new international governance of AI and renewed efforts towards nuclear disarmament.

Adapted from the July 29, 2026, issue of Seikyo Shimbun, Soka Gakkai, Japan.

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