Newsletter Sep 4, 2026 HRF’s AI for Individual Rights Newsletter #16 Chinese tech giant Huawei is bidding to expand Egypt’s AI capacity, bringing more powerful artificial intelligence (AI) tools into the hands of a dictatorship. In a country where officials already closely monitor and suppress dissent, that expansion could make surveillance faster and more sophisticated.
Newsletter Aug 28, 2026 HRF’s AI for Individual Rights Newsletter #15 This week, Saudi Arabia’s state-linked AI company HUMAIN announced a partnership with French AI lab Mistral. When authoritarian regimes collaborate with leading AI companies from democracies, they may gain greater influence over how AI systems are developed and deployed.
Newsletter Aug 24, 2026 HRF’s AI for Individual Rights Newsletter #14 Welcome to the 14th edition of HRF’s AI for Individual Rights newsletter. We begin in Afghanistan, where the Taliban is using tens of thousands of cameras to surveil women forced to follow its repressive rules.
Newsletter Aug 14, 2026 HRF’s AI for Individual Rights Newsletter #13 Across this week’s news, authoritarian regimes continue deploying AI-powered surveillance to better identify and track critics.
Newsletter Aug 10, 2026 HRF’s AI for Individual Rights Newsletter #12 This week we look at how police in Delhi shockingly used AI-powered facial recognition to scan India’s largest youth protest in decades, matching faces against a police database in real time.
Announcement Jul 29, 2026 HRF’s Chief Strategy Officer, Alex Gladstein, featured on BBC World Service What if AI could be a tool for freedom? In conversation with Owen Clegg from BBC World Service, Alex Gladstein, Chief Strategy Officer at the Human Rights Foundation, explores how artificial intelligence can empower human rights activists, expand access to information, and help counter authoritarian uses of technology. Listen to the full conversation below.
Announcement Jul 22, 2026 How AI Agents Are Empowering Human-Rights Defenders Just two years ago, AI seemed like an inevitable upgrade for dictators and a downgrade for dissidents.
Announcement Jul 20, 2026 HRF’s Alex Gladstein Discusses AI and the Future of Human Rights with Cutting-Edge AI Researcher Artificial intelligence (AI) is the fastest-spreading technology in human history. But the crucial question is whether or not it will serve human freedom.
Newsletter Jul 1, 2026 HRF’s AI for Individual Rights Newsletter #11 Today, we cover a report revealing potential advances in North Korea’s AI capabilities that enable dangerous surveillance use cases despite an apparent lack of ability to acquire advanced AI chips.
Newsletter Jun 15, 2026 HRF’s AI for Individual Rights Newsletter #10 We start in China, where AI-powered tools are censoring teachers in universities.
Press Release May 13, 2026 Announcing the Winners of AI Hack for Freedom II This past weekend, the Human Rights Foundation (HRF) sponsored the AI Hack for Freedom II, the second edition of a hackathon aimed at building powerful digital tools for pro-democracy movements.
Press Release May 12, 2026 HRF’s AI Fund Supports 10 Innovative Projects The Human Rights Foundation (HRF) is pleased to announce 10 new grants from its AI for Individual Rights Fund.
Press Release May 8, 2026 HRF Sponsors Second Edition of AI Hack for Freedom in Nashville, TN, May 9–10 The Human Rights Foundation is pleased to sponsor the AI Hack for Freedom II, taking place May 9–10 in Nashville, Tennessee.
Newsletter Apr 27, 2026 HRF’s AI for Individual Rights Newsletter #9 We start this month in Russia, where officials proposed new legislation aimed at restricting or banning Russian access to foreign AI models.
Newsletter Mar 30, 2026 HRF’s AI for Individual Rights Newsletter #8 We begin with research from the African Digital Rights Network, which documents how 11 African countries have collectively spent more than $2 billion on Chinese-built “smart city” AI-powered surveillance systems.
Newsletter Feb 24, 2026 HRF’s AI for Individual Rights Newsletter #7 This month: Russia is pouring $29 million into AI-powered censorship.
Newsletter Jan 26, 2026 HRF’s AI for Individual Rights Newsletter #6 This month captures the spirit of the moment, where AI is being used to repress, but people are pushing back in remarkable ways towards personal empowerment.
Press Release Jan 21, 2026 Announcing the AI Hack for Freedom Hackathon Winners This past weekend, the Human Rights Foundation (HRF) sponsored the first AI Hack for Freedom, a hackathon where globally-renowned dissidents and top open-source developers worked together to build tools addressing the most urgent needs of activists under authoritarian regimes.
Press Release Jan 16, 2026 HRF sponsors AI Hack for Freedom in Austin, TX, Jan. 17-18 The Human Rights Foundation (HRF) announces the launch of AI Hack for Freedom, an AI-powered hackathon dedicated to building tools for human rights defenders.
Announcement Jan 1, 2026 Top 15 Freedom Tech Projects of 2025 Looking back on 2025, financial and digital repression under authoritarian regimes continued to grow.
