Good morning, readers!

AI for Individual Rights newsletter #18 is out.

This week, China's top civilian intelligence official warned that AI could pose a security threat to Chinese Communist Party rule.

Meanwhile, a new European lab, Desert Ant Labs, launched with 18 small AI models designed to run locally and privately on a user’s phone.

We close with reflections from HRF Chief Strategy Officer Alex Gladstein on the latest developments in AI and their implications for human freedom, from the rise of local and private AI to HRF’s new “organizational brain” and the broader debates shaping AI’s future.

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Good afternoon, everyone!

This week’s AI for Individual Rights newsletter is out.

Chinese tech giant Huawei is bidding to expand Egypt’s AI capacity, which could bring more powerful AI tools into the hands of a dictatorship.

On a more positive note, US software company Perplexity launched Portable Computer, an AI agent designed specifically to operate privately on a user’s device by default (local-first).

We close with a tutorial from Freedom Tech educator Ben Perrin, who shows users how to run their own private AI server.

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HRF's Bitcoin Development Fund is awarding more than 500 million satoshis to 16 Bitcoin and freedom tech projects worldwide.

This round supports Bitcoin and Nostr development, self-custody, censorship-resistant communications, merchant and mobile payments integration, decentralized mining, research, and education.

Read our press release to learn more about the projects working to strengthen the Bitcoin protocol and expand access to secure tools for dissidents around the world.

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Good morning, friends!

This week’s AI for Individual Rights Newsletter #13 is out!

In China, an unsecured police database revealed how facial recognition and personal data can be combined to monitor foreigners.

Meanwhile, Meta committed to developing AI that empowers individuals and released a new open-weight model that individuals anywhere, in any country, under any government, can download and run privately.

We end with a tutorial from freedom tech educator, Sovereign Sessions, that shows beginners how to use LM Studio, an application for running AI models locally on their own computers.

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Good morning, friends!

This week's Financial Freedom Report #133 is here and covers Russia's official designation of HRF as an "undesirable" organization, suggesting HRF’s work is having a major impact on one of the world’s largest dictatorships.

In Bitcoin news, we cover the Red Team's response to the coldcard incident, in which a community-led effort is identifying critical vulnerabilities in Bitcoin-related software.

We end with the latest HRF x PubKey Freedom Tech Series, featuring a conversation between Russian dissident Anna Chekhovich and Finite engineer Alex Lewin.

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Good morning, friends!

Financial Freedom Report #124 is here and covers an alarming attempt by the Kenyan government to sell datasets it collects from public service portals like eCitizen.

In Bitcoin news, we highlight developments of a new layer-two called Cube, an attempt to expand the capabilities of Bitcoin without changing core operational realities.

We also feature this year’s Freedom Tech track at the 2026 Oslo Freedom Forum, where dissidents, technologists, and human rights defenders explored how Bitcoin, Nostr, Bitchat, and open-source AI can help people communicate, transact, and resist authoritarian repression.

Enjoy the report.

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The Human Rights Foundation just published “Bitcoin for Nonprofits: A Guide To Help Your Movement Achieve Financial Freedom.”

This is a practical guide for civil society organizations to accept and manage Bitcoin donations. It covers key tools, privacy best practices, real-world case studies from activists already using it, and common misconceptions.

If you work with or support nonprofits, please help share this guide. The more organizations that can receive sats, the harder they will be for dictators to shut down.

Read or download the PDF: https://hrf.org/latest/bitcoin-for-nonprofits-a-guide-to-help-your-movement-achieve-financial-freedom/

Good morning, friends!

Financial Freedom Report #121 is here!

In El Salvador, officials froze the assets of two members of El Faro, one of the country’s leading independent media organizations, a textbook case of financial repression to silence independent journalism.

In freedom tech news, we cover the launch of Maple AI's new private Personal Intelligence Platform that expands Maple from a private AI chatbot into a suite of encrypted AI tools.

We include an interview with Afghan activist and tech entrepreneur Roya Mahboob, who explains why Bitcoin is perceived radically differently in places like Kabul or Tehran than it is in New York or London.

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Good morning, Nostr!

This week’s Financial Freedom Report #115 examines how India’s central bank is negotiating to expand its digital rupee CBDC for cross-border institutional and retail transactions.

In freedom tech news, early Bitcoin developer Martti Malmi released Nostr VPN, a tool that allows users to manage their own private networks without centralized accounts, centralized servers, or reliance on any single company.

We include a recent discussion at PubKey in Washington, DC, where human rights advocates Leopoldo López, Berta Valle, and Anaïse Kanimba discuss opposing authoritarian regimes and the role of freedom tech in supporting their efforts.

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Good morning, friends!

Financial Freedom Report #112 has just been released.

We begin this week’s edition in Cuba, where personal stories reveal the human toll of currency collapse under the communist regime.

We also bring word from Iran, where millions remain cut off from the outside world as the clerical regime enforces sweeping internet blackouts amid unrest and continued air strikes.

In #Bitcoin news, Bitwise made a $233,000 donation to support open-source Bitcoin development, fulfilling a pledge to allocate 10% of annual profits from its Bitcoin ETF.

We end with a Bitcoin Policy Institute report examining the monetary preferences of advanced AI models.

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Good morning, Nostr!

This week's Financial Freedom Report is now out and covers a nationwide social media ban in Gabon as well as post-hyperinflation tax hikes in Lebanon.

In Freedom Tech, P2P exchange Mostro added a built-in Lightning wallet, and Bitchat shared plans to introduce device-to-device installs, eliminating the need for an internet connection to download the app.

We include an article in which the global humanitarian organization Save the Children shares the inspiration and rationale behind its newly launched #Bitcoin Fund.

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Good afternoon, friends!

This month’s AI for Individual Rights Newsletter #7 is out.

We cover Russia’s push into AI-enhanced internet filtering, Chinese AI models parroting CCP propaganda, and an AI-powered hacking campaign targeting Iranians who documented the regime’s killing of protesters.

On the tools side, we explore how the explosion of AI agents like OpenClaw and developments in new agentic models are refining workflows and accelerating software development.

We also feature the latest episode of Preston Pysh’s Infinite Tech podcast where HRF’s Alex Gladstein and Justin Moon discuss how open-source AI tools like OpenClaw advance individual freedom.

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