Peter Thiel receives Axel Springer Award in Berlin

Tech investor and Palantir co-founder Peter Thiel was honored with the Axel Springer Award in Berlin. During the ceremony, Thiel criticized the current media landscape, describing parts of it as having devolved into a “left-wing hate factory” and noting that it is far from being as free as desired.

Thiel praised Axel Springer CEO Mathias Döpfner and journalist Bari Weiss as “counter-voices” in the media. He also addressed German domestic issues, expressing understanding for why voters chose the Left party in Berlin due to high housing costs, though he warned that rent caps could turn the city into a “slum.”

In a separate critique, Thiel targeted religious and geopolitical stances, calling Pope Leo XIV a “useful idiot for China” regarding the Pope's recent encyclical on Artificial Intelligence. Thiel argued that the document could inadvertently benefit the Chinese Communist Party by potentially slowing Western AI development while China continues to race ahead.