Artificial intelligence is no longer a neutral tool. Across continents and cultures, it has become a strategic weapon — altering elections, reshaping public opinion, steering economies, and redrawing the boundaries of personal freedom. In Democracy on Trial – The Weaponization of AI , the Democracy on Trial Project investigates how AI is being used not to liberate, but to govern — and increasingly, to control. Drawing from documented case studies and verifiable sources across Asia, Europe, Africa, and the Americas, this book reveals how governments, corporations, and non-state actors are deploying predictive policing, algorithmic propaganda, mass surveillance, and automated decision-making to reshape civic life. From Jim Crow-era policies to modern digital redlining, the book connects historical systems of oppression to today’s emerging AI infrastructures. The analysis is nonpartisan, global in scope, and grounded in civic urgency. Inside, readers will explore: How algorithmic systems are redefining justice, education, housing, and immigration - Why even “neutral” technologies often encode past discrimination - What the recent passage of H.R.1 — the U.S. federal AI modernization bill — reveals about the future of centralized authority - How civic institutions and communities around the world are building resistance The final chapter, written as H.R.1 advanced through Congress, captures a live moment of transformation. Now passed by both House and Senate, the law confirms what this book has long argued: governance is no longer merely political — it is algorithmic. Also included: A Study Companion & Reader’s Guide with 9 modular sections, designed for classrooms, policy organizations, reading groups, and global civic education. Launching in English and Spanish, with additional translations to follow. Because the systems shaping our future are already global.