HRF

Good morning!

Financial Freedom Report #142 is here, covering an overnight currency devaluation in Iraq, where the regime cut the value of the dinar by 14.5%.

In #Bitcoin news, we break down the Ledger hardware wallet exploit and what it means for users relying on hardware devices to secure their funds.

We also feature three perspectives on financial freedom from members of HRF’s Freedom Tech team, who joined Bitcoin Magazine TV to discuss Bitcoin’s role in advancing human freedom.

Good morning, everyone!

AI for Individual RIghts newsletter #21 is out.

El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele is rolling out AI-powered public services that could improve his image and expand his access to citizens' personal data, even as democratic checks on his power erode.

On the other hand, Mistral, Europe's largest AI lab, has launched its most capable model yet, Mistral Large 4, nicknamed "Le Chonk." The company says it plans to release the model's weights soon and that, once it does, Le Chonk will be the best-performing open-weight model built in the United States or Europe.

We close with a recap video from our recent AI Hack for Freedom III, where 10 activists used AI to build tools addressing the biggest challenges they face.

Good morning, everyone!

AI for Individual Rights newsletter #20 is out.

We discuss how Xi Jinping’s visit to the US reflects the Chinese regime’s influence over the future of AI and how this risks sidelining discussions of China’s AI-powered repression.

On the other hand, Afghan tech entrepreneur Roya Mahboob is using AI to bring education to girls who are otherwise barred from it due to repressive Taliban decrees.

We close with a segment from NPR’s Weekend Edition that mentions HRF’s recent AI Hack for Freedom III as an example of how AI can be used for good.

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.

Good afternoon, everyone!

The AI for Individual Rights Newsletter #14 is out.

In Afghanistan, the Taliban is using tens of thousands of cameras, which officials say are AI-powered, to surveil women forced to follow its repressive rules.

Meanwhile, a new open-weight model, Qwen 3.8 27B, offers powerful AI that can run locally and privately on high-end computers.

We end with a report from Hugging Face examining how the open-weight AI landscape has grown and changed this year.

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.