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Open-weight AI models with no guardrails are now freely available — and they reveal more about us than we'd like. Plus, a federal judge reviews Trump's $1.8 billion 'anti-weaponization' fund, and Pope Leo's first encyclical warns against simulated intimacy.
Charles King unpacks the weekend's biggest stories through a biblical lens — from unrestricted AI models to political accountability funds to the Pope's surprising first encyclical on artificial intelligence. A reminder that every headline points back to where our trust actually belongs.
Stories Covered
• Open-weight AI models with no safeguards are now freely downloadable, raising urgent questions about the human heart
• A federal judge agrees to review Trump's $1.8 billion 'anti-weaponization' fund amid bipartisan concerns
• Pope Leo's first encyclical warns Christians about simulated intimacy and the illusions of AI chatbots
• Spurs beat the Thunder 111-103 in Game 7 to head to the NBA Finals
• Immigrant detainees sue over conditions at an El Paso ICE facility
• Defense Secretary Hegseth urges Asian allies to boost military spending against China
• Hundreds arrested in France after PSG's Champions League victory turns to riots
Scripture References
• Jeremiah 17:9 — The deceitfulness of the human heart
• Proverbs 11:1 — A false balance is an abomination to the Lord
• Genesis 2:18 — It is not good that the man should be alone
• Proverbs 16:33 — Every decision is from the Lord
• Matthew 25 — How we treat those in need
• Psalm 146:3 — Put not your trust in princes
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📖 Go deeper on today's verse — What does Psalm 146:3 mean? A free Bible study from Bible Copilot.
Understand the news. Keep your peace. Follow Christ. The Gospel Briefing is a five-minute weekday Christian news decision brief hosted by Charles King. Each episode brings three consequential stories into the light of Scripture, helping you enter the day informed and steady - without panic, outrage, or partisan noise. Go deeper with Bible Copilot.
This is The Gospel Briefing. I'm Charles King.
Today... AI without guardrails is now sitting on anyone's laptop. A federal judge takes a hard look at a one point eight billion dollar fund. And a pope, a podcast, and a question about what makes us human.
Headlines... Heartbeat... Hope. Let's get into it.
[TRANSITION]
We're starting with a story NPR ran this weekend that didn't make the front page... but probably should have.
A new generation of AI models is now freely available online. Open-weight. No safeguards. No content filters. No company sitting behind them saying no when you ask them to do something they shouldn't do.
You can download them. Run them on your own computer. And they will answer almost anything. How to make weapons. How to write malware. How to generate the kind of images that used to require a dark corner of the internet to find.
AI safety researchers are sounding the alarm. Because once a model is released into the wild — open-weight, freely downloadable — there's no putting it back. No company can recall it. No update can fix it. It just exists. Forever. On thousands of hard drives.
Here's what I keep coming back to.
For a long time, the conversation about AI has been about what the machines might do to us. The real story is what they reveal about us. A tool that will never say no is only dangerous because of what's already in the human heart asking the question.
Jeremiah 17:9 says it plainly. "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick. Who can understand it?"
That verse was written roughly twenty-six hundred years before anyone downloaded a language model. And it still describes the exact problem. The technology isn't creating new evil. It's lowering the friction on old evil. Removing the gatekeepers. Removing the embarrassment of having to ask another human being for something shameful.
Christians don't need to panic about this. But we do need to be clear-eyed. A culture that builds tools assuming people are basically good will eventually be horrified by what people actually do with them. Scripture told us this would happen. It's telling us now.
[TRANSITION]
Story two. A federal judge has agreed to review the Trump administration's one point eight billion dollar "anti-weaponization" fund.
Here's what the fund is. It was announced earlier this month as a pool of money to compensate Americans the administration says were targeted by the previous Justice Department for political reasons. Critics — including some Republicans — say it's a slush fund. A way to reward political allies with taxpayer dollars under the banner of correcting past wrongs.
The backlash has been broad. And notably, it's exposed real fractures inside the Republican Party. Some conservatives are defending it as overdue accountability. Others are calling it exactly the kind of executive overreach they spent years opposing.
Christians are going to disagree about this one, and that's fine. People of good faith can look at the same facts and land in different places on the politics.
But Scripture is clear on the principle underneath it. Proverbs 11:1. "A false balance is an abomination to the Lord, but a just weight is His delight."
Justice has to be even. It has to weigh the same in both hands. The moment "accountability" becomes a tool for one side to punish the other, it stops being justice and starts being something else. Something Scripture has a long history of warning kings about.
The judge's review is exactly the kind of check the system is designed to have. Whatever your politics, that's a good thing.
[TRANSITION]
Story three is gentler. And honestly, I needed it after the first two.
Pope Leo released his first encyclical this week. It's getting attention for an unusual reason. Most of it is about artificial intelligence.
The pope warned about the illusions that AI chatbots create. The way they mimic relationship without actually being a relationship. The way they offer the feeling of being known without anyone actually knowing you. He called Christians back to the irreplaceable value of human presence. Of actual conversation. Of looking another person in the eye.
Now... evangelical Protestants and Roman Catholics have real and serious theological disagreements. I'm not going to paper over those. But on this particular point — that human beings were made for embodied relationship, not simulated intimacy — there's something worth listening to.
Genesis 2:18. "It is not good that the man should be alone." That was said in a perfect garden. Before sin. Before screens. Before anything was broken. The need for real human presence isn't a modern problem. It's the original design.
If you've been talking to a chatbot more than you've been talking to your neighbor... that's worth noticing. The remedy isn't more technology. It's a phone call. A front porch. A meal with people whose names you actually know.
[TRANSITION]
Now to your quick briefs.
The San Antonio Spurs beat the Oklahoma City Thunder one hundred eleven to one hundred three in Game Seven. They're heading to the NBA Finals. Victor Wembanyama led the way. Proverbs 16:33 — the lot is cast into the lap, but every decision is from the Lord. Even the bracket.
Immigrant detainees are suing the federal government over conditions at an ICE facility in El Paso called Camp East Montana. The lawsuit describes what it calls inhumane treatment. Whatever you believe about immigration policy, Christians have always held that how we treat people in custody reveals who we actually are. Matthew 25 doesn't have a citizenship test.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth urged Asian allies this weekend to increase military spending to counter China's military buildup. He struck a notably moderate tone on US-China relations. And he sidestepped Taiwan. Pray for wisdom for those making decisions that could shape the next decade.
And in France, hundreds were arrested after Paris Saint-Germain won the Champions League. Flares. Riots. Property damage. A celebration that turned into something else. A reminder that human beings will worship something. The only question is what.
[TRANSITION]
Today's episode is brought to you by Bible Copilot.
You're reading the Bible. A real question hits you — about the geography, the culture, the original Hebrew, what the verse actually means. Who do you ask? Bible Copilot. Trusted AI for Bible study — not generic AI. Ask anything about any passage and get an instant, verse-backed answer. One rule: Scripture interprets Scripture, rooted in two thousand years of orthodox Christian thought. Fifteen questions a day, free — no account, no ads. Pro is five dollars a month, or thirty a year, for unlimited questions and guided reading plans. Search Bible Copilot in the App Store.
Today's verse is Psalm 146:3. "Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation."
That verse covers a lot of ground today. AI won't save you. Politicians won't save you. A trophy won't save you. A chatbot won't know you the way you long to be known. The whole drumbeat of the news this weekend is the same old idolatry wearing new clothes.
But the Psalm doesn't end there. The next verse says, "Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob." That's the only foundation that holds.
Thanks for listening to The Gospel Briefing. If today's episode helped you think more clearly, send it to one person who needs to hear it. We'll see you tomorrow.