Notable recent
First round of AI for Individual Rights grants announced November 24, 2025: eight grantees (Maple AI, Routstr, The Bridge Project, PlebDevs, OpenCode, Sovereign Engineering, CANVAS, Citizen Power Initiatives for China).
Documented grants (10)
- Stringer Safety 2026-01-18 · Hackathon prize
Recipient: Anjan Sundaram et al. (AI Hack for Freedom)
Safety app for journalists in high-risk environments. Reporters maintain a trusted contact network with shared location and status; a one-click SOS triggers response recommendations using the encrypted Maple AI assistant.
- Pathos 2026-01-18 · Hackathon prize
Recipient: Leopoldo López and team (AI Hack for Freedom)
Application running on the decentralized Nostr protocol so it cannot be shut down by governments. Built at HRF's first AI Hack for Freedom in Austin, January 2026.
- Maple AI 2025-11-24 · Undisclosed
Recipient: OpenSecret
Open-source, end-to-end encrypted AI assistant built by OpenSecret using secure enclaves and confidential computing. Activists in authoritarian environments can use frontier LLMs without their queries being scanned, stored, or handed to governments. HRF support funds capability improvements and new features for activist research workflows.
- Routstr 2025-11-24 · Undisclosed
Recipient: Sovereign Engineering / Routstr team
LLM routing marketplace built on the Nostr decentralized communications protocol. Users connect pseudonymously to buy and sell access to each other's AI accounts in an uncensorable peer-to-peer marketplace, giving activists inference even when governments or corporate providers block them.
- OpenCode 2025-11-24 · Undisclosed
Recipient: OpenCode
Fully open-source agentic coding platform that runs entirely locally. Users can inspect every line of code, avoid surveillance, and build software without routing sensitive work through corporate infrastructure, making it usable for civil-society teams under authoritarian rule.
- PlebDevs AI Development Course 2025-11-24 · Undisclosed
Recipient: PlebDevs
Developer education platform focused on Bitcoin and open-source technology launching an AI development course for beginners building open-source AI tools in repressive environments.
- Sovereign Engineering Freedom Tech AI Cohorts 2025-11-24 · Undisclosed
Recipient: Sovereign Engineering
Brings builders together in a physical space to create freedom-enhancing tools on open networks like Bitcoin and Nostr. Over two cohorts, participants explore how AI can be integrated into censorship-resistant systems.
- Citizen Power Initiatives for China AI Research 2025-11-24 · Undisclosed
Recipient: Citizen Power Initiatives for China
Research examining how the Chinese regime uses AI to bolster its digital dictatorship and exports these tools to other regimes, plus identifying open-source AI tools human rights defenders can use to resist digital repression.
- CANVAS Global Education for Nonviolent Engagement (GENE) 2025-11-24 · Undisclosed
Recipient: CANVAS
AI-powered tool trained on decades of frontline nonviolent organizing experience. Helps activists plan campaigns, coordinate action, and respond in moments of crisis with strategy guidance grounded in CANVAS's documented case archive.
- The Bridge Project 2025-11-24 · Undisclosed
Recipient: The Bridge Project
Provides hands-on consultation to activists in HRF's network, helping them refine prototypes into deployable applications. Acts as a bridge between human-rights defenders and the technical talent needed to launch tools in production.
Process
Open RFP via dedicated portal; peer review by HRF freedom-tech team.
Cadence
Annual RFP rounds with rolling acceptance