Bitcoin Magazine has published an interview with Alex Gladstein, Chief Strategy Officer at the Human Rights Foundation (HRF), a nonprofit that promotes and protects human rights worldwide with a particular focus on countries living under authoritarian rule. The conversation examines how the convergence of Bitcoin and artificial intelligence bears on the global fight for freedom, and it lands amid an ongoing debate in the technology world over whether AI's gravest dangers are existential or political.

Asked whether the biggest AI risk is really the end of humanity, Gladstein no: in his view, the real danger is AI centralized in the hands of dictators, governments, and a few large corporations. He argues that “AI will kill us all” claims are largely propaganda, and that local AI running on one's own laptop and phone could be a huge win for human rights. The interview lays out his vision for AI that remains in users' control — a “freedom stack” combining encrypted inference, which keeps users' queries private from the services they interact with, and open-weight models, whose publicly released parameters anyone can download, inspect, and run on their own hardware.

His argument reaches beyond software into money itself. The interview moves from why he regards CBDCs — central bank digital currencies — as instruments of repression, to what it takes to live on bitcoin in Kenya using Tando and M-Pesa, the country's widely used mobile money service, and to bitcoin's role as a lifeline in Venezuela after Maduro. For viewers new to his work, the segments double as a primer on “freedom tech”: tools built to keep money and AI in the hands of individuals rather than institutions.

The conversation covers the following chapters:

• 0:00 – Alex Gladstein on Freedom AI vs. Corporate AI
• 1:26 – How HRF Trains Human Rights Activists to Use AI
• 2:57 – The Freedom Stack: Encrypted Inference, Open Weights and Local AI
• 5:45 – The Real AI Risk: Centralization in the Hands of Dictators
• 8:20 – HRF and Bitcoin Park Hackathons for Activists
• 9:57 – Why CBDCs Are a Tool of Repression
• 12:35 – Living on Bitcoin in Kenya With Tando and M-Pesa
• 15:25 – Building Your Own Freedom Tech With AI Agents
• 17:39 – Venezuela After Maduro and Bitcoin as a Lifeline
• 20:25 – What “Freedom Money” Really Means

The views and opinions expressed in the show are those of the participants and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of BTC Inc., Bitcoin Magazine, or any affiliated entities. The content is provided for informational and educational purposes only and should not be construed as investment, legal, tax, or accounting advice. Nothing in the show constitutes a solicitation, recommendation, endorsement, or offer to buy or sell any securities or financial instruments. Viewers should consult their own advisors before making financial or business decisions.

This article first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and was written by Patrick Green.