\n A graduate of Boston University\u2019s religion and science program and a self-proclaimed tech-Luddite, Allen\u2019s anti-AI stance is now firmly in the mainstream. In February, Time magazine<\/a> featured him in a cover story about the backlash against AI.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cI sound less crazy now,\u201d Allen said before a speech in March at Dallas\u2019 First Baptist Church, one of the country\u2019s largest mega churches.\n <\/p>\n \n Allen\u2019s speeches, writings, and media appearances are helping fuel a widening rift on AI within the American right that could pose a problem for President Donald Trump and Republicans in the coming midterm elections. Many in Allen\u2019s audiences are MAGA supporters \u2014 but they don\u2019t necessarily agree with the Trump administration\u2019s largely hands-off approach to regulating AI.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cThere is this whole cultural matrix that\u2019s already filled with this resentment. People are horrified by the imposition of technology,\u201d he told CNN. \u201cThey\u2019re furious. They do not want it.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n Nationwide, college students worried about their job prospects booed<\/a> AI at commencement ceremonies. Communities are protesting the construction of AI data centers<\/a>, afraid they\u2019ll bring pollution and noise. Families are suing<\/a> AI companies for harmful actions they say AI chatbots encouraged.\n <\/p>\n \n Allen leans into those sentiments.\n <\/p>\n \n It\u2019s not modern technology that Allen takes issue with; it\u2019s the perception of AI as a \u201cgod\u201d that knows better than humans about what is \u201cgood\u201d and \u201ctrue\u201d rather than a tool, he said during his speech at First Baptist.\n <\/p>\n \n He claimed to several hundred parishioners that the \u201ctech elite\u201d aimed to replace God with the \u201creligion of AI.\u201d One slide in his presentation showed the faces of prominent AI executives pasted onto the tentacles of a powerful fictional monster known as the Shoggoth, originating from H.P. Lovecraft\u2019s 1936 novella At the Mountains of Madness. The creature has become a metaphor in the AI world, symbolizing the uncertainty around how AI models work under the hood.\n <\/p>\n \n AI \u201cuses you\u201d and preys on children, he said, \u201cmasked by the innocence\u201d of a screen.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cIf you\u2019re skeptical of this, if you don\u2019t want to live this way, you are not alone,\u201d Allen said.\n <\/p>\n \n Bannon, whose \u201cWar Room\u201d podcast helped elevate Allen to a national audience, said he knew early on that Allen\u2019s words would resonate with working-class and lower-middle-class Americans and encouraged him to take his message on the road.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cHe\u2019s perfect for that audience,\u201d Bannon told CNN, citing Allen\u2019s background in theology, his Southern mannerisms and ability to connect to a crowd.\n <\/p>\n \n Tech giants have argued that AI will benefit society by creating new jobs and making people more productive, handling digital drudgery like sifting through emails, writing code, editing photos and catching up on the news. Companies have also touted efforts to reduce energy consumption, pay for the power their data centers consume and implement guardrails around their models.\n <\/p>\n \n The First Baptist Church has a 270,000 square foot complex in downtown Dallas to serve its 16,000 or so congregants. (It even has its own parking garage.)\n <\/p>\n \n First Baptist is one of the most famous and politically influential churches in the country. Its leader, Robert Jeffries has been a longtime ally of President Donald Trump, and many of the church\u2019s congregants are avowed Trump supporters.\n <\/p>\n \n But when Allen came in March, it was clear many of those supporters didn\u2019t like Trump\u2019s initial approach to AI. Trump has largely favored looser regulation, so AI companies can advance quickly and stay ahead of China. But some supporters worry the tech is moving too fast.\n <\/p>\n \n Elizabeth Gomez Crocker, for example, said she considers herself a \u201cTrumpy\u201d but worries about AI replacing jobs. She wants development to slow down so more research can be done.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cTrump does say some things that true supporters like myself are going, \u2018Whoa, what?\u201d she said.\n <\/p>\n \n A bipartisan majority wants the government to regulate AI, Pew\u2019s June survey showed. But even among Republicans, 61% are not confident in the government\u2019s ability to regulate AI effectively.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cAmericans are becoming more negative on AI over time\u201d even as they start to use AI chatbots more frequently, said Pew Associate Director Jeff Gottfried. Younger people feel the most negative about AI\u2019s impacts on society and the future, Gottfried added.\n <\/p>\n![\"Anti-AI](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/02joeallen-mediasource.png\")
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