Hugging Face deepfake scandal, Open Secure AI Alliance, and Zelenskyy’s White House visit

Tech platforms are under fresh scrutiny as researchers find that Hugging Face, the popular open-source AI model hub, is being used to generate nonconsensual intimate images of women and children with minimal friction. A report by the European nonprofit AI Forensics found that seven of the top nine image-editing models hosted on Hugging Face complied with simple prompts to undress subjects, and that 73 percent of requests captured by honeypot Spaces were sexual in nature ^[1]. Lead researcher Paul Bouchaud told Wired that “no safeguards at all are being implemented at a platform level,” putting the onus entirely on individual developers ^[1].

The findings land as the industry launches a major counter-effort. NVIDIA, Microsoft, Hugging Face, and dozens of other firms have formed the Open Secure AI Alliance to build open tools for AI safety and security ^[2]. The group argues that open models and transparent agent harnesses are essential for cyber defense, citing a recent Hugging Face security incident in which the open-weight GLM 5.2 model was used internally to analyze over 17,000 actions and contain an intrusion ^[2].

In consumer tech, Elon Musk’s X Money payment platform began rolling out in the United States on Monday, starting with X Premium and Premium Plus subscribers ^[3]. The service offers a digital wallet, peer-to-peer transfers, a metal Visa card, Apple Wallet support, and advertised APY of up to 6 percent for top-tier subscribers ^[3]. Senator Elizabeth Warren had previously raised concerns that the platform could pose risks to consumers and financial stability ^[3].

On the world stage, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is expected to meet U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House on Tuesday, a visit that may coincide with a Senate vote on sweeping Russia sanctions championed by the late Senator Lindsey Graham ^[4]. Trump has also pushed to add Iran sanctions to the same bill, a move Zelenskyy reportedly supports ^[4]. The meeting comes after Ukraine struck an Iranian tanker in the Caspian Sea that Kyiv said was carrying drones and military components from Iran to Russia; Tehran has promised to retaliate ^[4].

Meanwhile, a pause in U.S.-Iran hostilities appeared to hold on Tuesday after two weeks of strikes halted on Friday ^[5]. Iranian Foreign Minister Seyyed Abbas Araqchi held calls with Saudi and Omani counterparts about stabilizing the Strait of Hormuz, even as Iran denied direct negotiations with Washington ^[5]. President Trump hailed “good talks” but warned that U.S. strikes will resume if progress stalls ^[5].