This Month's Latest Tech News in Baltimore, MD - Saturday May 31st 2025 Edition

Baltimore's AI ecosystem is surging to new heights this summer, powered by transformative breakthroughs across education and industry. The University of Maryland's newly launched Center for Educational Data Science and Innovation is reshaping how educators utilize AI, with projects like MPowering Teachers providing real-time, actionable feedback to boost classroom effectiveness.

In a nod to the region's deep innovation roots, UMD researchers took home the 2025 Invention of the Year Award for their “rhythmic sharing” AI, a brain-inspired method that adapts swiftly and detects early warnings in complex domains such as cancer and climate.

Meanwhile, Maryland's education reforms are placing renewed emphasis on career readiness and industry relevance, ensuring that new technologies align with workforce needs (Maryland educational program redesign emphasizes career readiness and industry standards alignment).

As Baltimore's AI momentum accelerates, stakeholders from academia, government, and business are working together to foster responsible, equitable, and impactful tech innovation for the city's future prosperity.

This month, Baltimore is making headlines as emergency responders debut an AI-powered 911 system during the city's massive Artscape festival, which draws hundreds of thousands downtown.

The enhanced system integrates real-time AI, geofencing, and language translation to pinpoint emergencies within the festival's seven designated zones and route calls directly to the Emergency Operations Center, streamlining response without affecting regular citywide 911 operations.

According to city officials, these upgrades - developed over a year - allow dispatchers to prioritize festival emergencies and reduce delays, creating a more resilient public safety infrastructure.

Tenea Reddick, Director of Baltimore's Emergency Call Center, called the launch “a groundbreaking moment for public safety in Baltimore.” As Gov1 explains the AI emergency response technology, the technology will be replicated at future city events.

For a behind-the-scenes perspective, CBS News Baltimore details the AI 911 system's benefits and how the system keeps the process seamless for residents and visitors while enabling faster, zone-specific intervention.

Further insights on the system's rollout, its operational impact, and official statements can be found in the detailed reporting by The Baltimore Sun's coverage of Baltimore's AI emergency response system.

The initiative marks a significant step forward in Baltimore's adoption of smart city technologies to enhance safety during high-traffic events.

The Baltimore Banner has been selected as one of five prominent news organizations to join the Lenfest Institute AI Collaborative and Fellowship Program, a $10 million initiative supported by OpenAI and Microsoft designed to drive AI-powered innovation for business sustainability in journalism.

The Banner will utilize this opportunity to enhance audience engagement, classify content, and analyze user feedback, all with the goal of deepening subscriber retention and boosting donor outreach.

Bob Cohn, CEO of The Baltimore Banner, emphasized the impact:

“We're so grateful to OpenAI, Microsoft and the Lenfest Institute for the opportunity to join and learn from some of the most innovative news organizations in the nation. This funding makes it possible for The Banner to hire an AI fellow to help us better understand and serve our audiences, which we believe will boost engagement and subscriber retention.”

Joining peers such as ProPublica and The Dallas Morning News, The Banner aims to create replicable models that can advance audience and revenue strategies for local newsrooms nationwide.

The program's collaborative structure also allows participants to share best practices and technical learnings. For a deeper dive into the program details and participating organizations, visit the official Lenfest Institute announcement.

The Banner's recent growth reflects its ambitious goals; the nonprofit newsroom plans to surpass 100,000 paying subscribers and 5 million monthly unique visitors by 2025 - milestones supported by substantial investment and strategic advice from the Lenfest Institute, as detailed in this comprehensive profile of its revenue model and launch strategy.

Maryland colleges are rapidly expanding artificial intelligence offerings to address mounting workforce demand, unveiling new programs that blend technical, business, and ethical training for the AI era.

Institutions such as the University of Baltimore now provide an M.S. in Artificial Intelligence for Business, featuring a flexible, STEM-designated curriculum focused on business applications, hybrid learning options, and rolling admissions.

The University of Maryland is launching a cutting-edge Engineering Artificial Intelligence program in Fall 2025 which, as Dr. Sennur Ulukus notes,

“offers an in-depth curriculum that equips students with foundational AI principles and advanced technical skills,”

preparing graduates for industry innovation.

The University of Maryland Global Campus (UMGC) is rolling out an online bachelor's degree in artificial intelligence, with tracks for both AI applications and developer roles, targeting career readiness for fields ranging from product management to deep learning engineering.

Community colleges, like the Community College of Baltimore County, are developing dedicated AI associate's degrees as essential stepping stones. As summarized in local reporting on Maryland colleges expanding AI curriculums, these institutions underscore not only technical prowess, but also emphasize hands-on skills, interdisciplinary learning, and the ability to navigate rapidly changing technology landscapes.

Shorter, tuition-free credential options are also available - for instance, the University of Maryland Smith School of Business's free AI and Career Empowerment Certificate program beginning May 2025, aimed at upskilling professionals for AI-driven workplaces.

As Anna Lissitz, data analytics professor, notes:

“We couldn't possibly teach students everything there is to know about AI. But we can teach them how to stay current with the evolving field and how to find what they need to be successful in the workplace.”

Maryland's higher ed landscape is building a talent pipeline equipped for tomorrow's most transformative technologies.

STEM City Baltimore has secured a $100,000 grant from the State of Maryland to deliver immersive artificial intelligence (AI) and metaverse training to local youth - an initiative championed by Maryland State Senator Cory McCray and aligned with national priorities for AI education.

The funded program, part of STEM City USA, will engage students through hands-on modules featuring AI simulations, virtual reality, and blockchain fundamentals in an inclusive metaverse environment.

Designed to close the technology divide, the effort partners with local schools, community centers, and civic organizations to democratize high-tech learning and empower underserved communities.

As Black Engineer Online details the STEM City Baltimore AI and metaverse grant program, the program aims to position Baltimore as a model for digital equity.

According to Tyrone Taborn, founder of STEM City USA,

"This grant is a major step forward in bridging the digital divide. We are entering an era the world hasn't seen before - one driven by AI and immersive technology. It is imperative that our youth, especially from underserved communities, are not left behind."

For a summary of initiative specifics, see the table below:

Learn more about the vision for Baltimore's digital future at the Afro-American News Baltimore AI training grant coverage and visit the official site for updates at STEM City USA official website.

The sentencing of former Pikesville High School athletic director Dazhon Darien to four months in jail for creating a racist and antisemitic AI deepfake of principal Eric Eiswert marks a watershed moment in Baltimore's tech and legal landscape, fueling urgent calls for regulatory action around artificial intelligence.

According to The Daily Record's detailed account, Darien generated a fraudulent audio recording using AI, which went viral within the school community in January 2024, ultimately leading to Eiswert's reassignment and sparking community outrage.

The sentencing, made official with Darien's Alford plea for disturbing school operations, is seen as largely symbolic because Darien remains in custody on unrelated, serious federal charges.

The case exposed significant flaws in both school district vetting processes and Maryland's current legal tools for punishing AI-driven defamation or impersonation, as highlighted in coverage by New York Daily News.

Calls for legislative reform have intensified, with experts and lawmakers emphasizing that, under existing Maryland law, the harmful use of deepfakes is rarely a crime - a loophole that is especially concerning as generative AI becomes more accessible and powerful.

Principal Eiswert's attorney captured the broader stakes:

“We are confident that the civil justice system will hold BCPS, Mr. Darien, and others accountable not only to Mr. Eiswert but also to the thousands of students, teachers, and administrators that rely on BCPS to provide a safe learning environment.”

For more on how this case is shaping local and state discourse around AI regulation and school safety, read the in-depth analysis from ABC7 News – WJLA.

The Baltimore Orioles have propelled themselves to the forefront of sports technology through their exclusive partnership with the University of Waterloo on PitcherNet, a groundbreaking AI system that analyzes pitcher biomechanics from regular broadcast or smartphone video footage.

Unlike costly, stadium-bound systems such as Hawk-Eye - which use up to 12 high-speed cameras and are mostly accessible to home teams - PitcherNet democratizes data by enabling scouts and coaches at all levels, from college to minor leagues, to capture and assess player performance with commonly available video sources.

The AI extracts intricate pitch metrics like release point, velocity, and extension by building 3D avatars from 2D video, achieving a reported 96.82% accuracy in pitcher identification.

The Orioles' assistant GM, Sig Mejdal, affirmed,

“Biomechanics is relatively new in the baseball world, but there has to be many things we could uncover that right now remain out of reach.”

For more information, see the CBC News feature on PitcherNet.

According to project lead Dr. John Zelek,

“The goal was to produce similar output to Hawk-Eye technology from broadcast video or smartphone footage.”

Learn more in the AIhub PitcherNet analysis.

This innovation not only optimizes pitcher performance and helps prevent injury, but also enhances Orioles' scouting capabilities and sets a new standard for accessible, quantitative baseball analytics.

Funded by an exclusive multi-year contract, PitcherNet's future could include expansion to other sports like hockey and basketball, strengthening Baltimore's reputation for data-driven sports innovation.

Read the University of Waterloo official release for more details.

Baltimore tech leader Jason Michael Perry is at the forefront of advancing human-AI collaboration, drawing on decades of experience that span self-taught tech innovation, digital leadership, and AI community advocacy.

As the founder of Perry Labs and former CTO of Mindgrub, Perry's mission is clear: help businesses and individuals leverage AI not as a replacement, but as an augmenting partner.

“We focus so much on AI replacing humans, but not as much on how it can augment us,” Perry states

, encouraging local organizations to experiment with AI for productivity and creativity.

At the 2025 Technical.ly Builders Conference, Perry demonstrated how generative AI can empower non-developers and developers alike - with tools like Loveable.dev, Claude, and Gemini - emphasizing frameworks such as RACE for building effective prompts and treating AI assistants as creative colleagues.

Perry's advocacy extends beyond business into the arts; his “AI in A Minor” project saw the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra perform AI-composed pieces, exemplifying the intersection of technology and human expression.

Local initiatives like these underscore Perry's role as both a connector and educator, helping Baltimore businesses, artists, and communities adapt to the rapidly evolving AI landscape.

For more on Perry's approach to practical AI adoption, read Technical.ly's detailed recap of his Builders Conference workshop on AI tools, explore his personal journey and philosophy in the in-depth profile on Jason Michael Perry's AI contributions in Baltimore, and discover how he brought AI and music together in partnership with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra in the official AI in A Minor event overview.

In a pivotal event for Baltimore's tech and policy community, Johns Hopkins University recently hosted the Hopkins Forum - a live debate examining whether the U.S. can outpace China in artificial intelligence by implementing chip controls.

Bringing together national security experts and policy thought leaders, the forum featured spirited arguments both for and against stricter export restrictions on advanced semiconductors, with panelists including former U.S. Representative and CIA officer Will Hurd and technology analyst Lindsay Gorman facing off against former diplomat Susan Thornton and technology policy expert Paul Triolo.

Supporters of chip controls, like Gorman, argued such measures could “squeeze every inch of competitive advantage” to ensure democratic leadership in AI, while critics such as Thornton warned,

“Making the AI competition with China a zero-sum game not only will not work - it is dangerous.”

Triolo added that

“expanding the controls ... has been really confusing to industry,”

causing disruptions in global supply chains and alliances.

The forum, moderated by Emmy Award–winning journalist John Donvan, epitomized the SNF Agora Institute's mission to foster evidence-based, civil dialogue on high-stakes global issues.

For in-depth coverage of the debate's arguments and broader geopolitical context, explore the detailed event highlights and expert panelist takeaways on AI competition, review the official Johns Hopkins forum recap and mission statements from Johns Hopkins SNF Agora Institute, or learn more about upcoming discussions by visiting the Johns Hopkins University AI event listing and schedule.

Senior living providers in Baltimore are setting new standards for elder care by strategically integrating artificial intelligence and advanced technologies, with local leaders like Erickson Senior Living focusing on resident well-being, smart health solutions, and operational agility.

Key industry voices at the recent AI-Focused Senior Living Executive Conference emphasized real-world AI applications such as predictive analytics, workflow automation, and personalized resident engagement, advocating for scalable solutions and meaningful staff involvement.

Collaboration with institutions like Johns Hopkins University underscores Baltimore's commitment to data-driven innovation, as operators like Insight Living co-develop AI models for proactive health management.

The decision-making process centers on careful vendor vetting, data interoperability, and ensuring new tech fits seamlessly into complex operations; as Hans Keller, CIO of Erickson, notes,

“There's a greater emphasis now on real-world impact, integration across systems, and long-term value creation.”

According to Senior Housing News' recent industry roundup, effective AI adoption leads to increases in operational efficiency and resident satisfaction while supporting staff to focus on human care delivery.

Baltimore-based Erickson Senior Living, home to over 20 communities, illustrates this momentum with enhanced home health support, fitness amenities, and technology-enabled medical platforms designed to allow seniors to age comfortably within their communities.

For a comprehensive outlook on the future of senior living and the industry's mission, see the 2025 Executive Forecast from Erickson Senior Living's CEO, who concludes,

“What we do matters. Let's turn the daily good news that we witness into part of the American dialogue in 2025.”

Baltimore has marked a pivotal moment in its journey toward becoming a smart city, debuting a state-of-the-art AI-powered emergency response system at this year's Artscape festival - the nation's largest free arts event.

The system enhances the city's 911 communications by integrating artificial intelligence and geofencing, allowing the Emergency Operations Center to pinpoint, prioritize, and respond to emergencies specifically within the festival's designated zones, while easing pressure on the citywide dispatch network.

This behind-the-scenes upgrade means attendees and residents can call 911 as usual, but their calls from within Artscape boundaries will be automatically routed to a dedicated team for faster intervention.

As reported by Gov1 on Baltimore's AI Emergency Response System, the system not only offers improved incident management but also positions Baltimore to adopt similar smart city technologies for future large-scale events.

According to EMS1's report on Baltimore Fire Department AI Implementation, Tenea Reddick, Director of the Emergency Call Center, called this advancement “a groundbreaking moment for public safety in Baltimore.” The local rollout is part of a broader modernization strategy described by Radio Free Hub City's coverage of Baltimore Fire Department's AI-Driven 911 Enhancements, reflecting how real-time data, geolocation, and AI-enabled routing are poised to set a new standard for urban event safety and emergency resilience.

Baltimore's tech outlook is being shaped by a robust push for innovation, record-level investment, and new commitments to public accountability. The Greater Baltimore Committee's recent investment summit highlighted more than $664 million in venture funding and 10 startup exits, celebrating growth in biotech, higher education, and entrepreneurship in the region (Industry leaders celebrate Baltimore's ‘bold moves' at investment summit).

However, this momentum occurs amid urgent calls for transparency and oversight. Maryland lawmakers recently enacted a sweeping ethics law requiring future governors to place business interests in a blind trust, aiming to prevent conflicts of interest and bolster public trust:

“It's incumbent upon us to make sure that governors are working for us, and there's not even a question about that,”

emphasized bill sponsor Del.

Marc Korman (Maryland's new ethics law restricts future governors' business dealings).

Meanwhile, state audits revealed persistent issues in technology project management and compliance, prompting legislative remedies after the Department of Information Technology faced criticism for unresolved recommendations and oversight of a $588 million project with 80% cost overruns (Auditor report: Maryland IT department has yet to implement earlier recommendations).

As the city intensifies digital inclusion, advances academic-industry partnerships, and tightens government ethics, Baltimore's future hinges on sustaining talent pipelines and holding institutions to higher standards - ensuring that innovation and accountability rise hand in hand.