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

This month in Billings, AI is making a direct impact across industries, from advancing small business productivity to transforming foundational sectors like agriculture and wildfire management.

Montana's small businesses are embracing emerging technologies, with 80% of leaders already leveraging or planning to implement AI for innovation and efficiency in areas such as customer service automation and data analysis, as detailed in JPMorgan Chase's 2025 Business Leaders Outlook Survey.

Meanwhile, local tech startup Remsight is empowering ranchers with real-time irrigation intelligence, using advanced sensors and software to optimize water usage - a development recognized by the Montana High Tech Business Alliance in their 2025 Startups to Watch report.

On the policy front, state lawmakers are crafting a narrow, innovation-friendly legal framework to balance responsible AI growth, as summarized in the Daily Montanan's legislative roundup.

As one lawmaker put it,

“There's a new world. Let's open the door and then start restricting in a narrow, detailed way, not like other states that are basically trying to ban everything.”

Together, these efforts are ensuring that Billings and broader Montana are not just witnessing AI's rise - they're driving how it gets personal and powerful at every level.

Telepsychiatry is making a measurable impact in Billings, Montana, with new research from Frontier Psychiatry and Humbi AI by Innovaccer showing substantial benefits for Medicaid patients.

In a cross-sectional study of 5,372 Montana Medicaid recipients, those who received outpatient telepsychiatry services from Frontier Psychiatry experienced a 38% lower annualized hospitalization rate and a 17.9% lower proportion of emergency department admissions compared to matched controls, all while maintaining statistically similar monthly Medicaid costs (read the full telepsychiatry study in JAMA Network Open).

The data indicate that while professional services costs were slightly higher for telepsychiatry users, significantly reduced inpatient hospitalizations led to overall cost neutrality.

A summary of the findings is illustrated below:

Metric	Telepsychiatry Group	Control Group	% Difference
Annualized Hospitalizations (per 1,000 patients)	274.3	442.6	-38.0%
Emergency Dept. Admission Rate (of hospitalizations)	47.7%	58.1%	-17.9%
Medicaid Cost Per Member Per Month	$685.50	$734.00	~0% (Statistically similar)

“The best decisions in healthcare are backed by solid evidence. Telepsychiatry keeps more people out of hospitals without adding costs.” - Abhinav Shashank, Co-founder and CEO of Innovaccer

These findings, highlighted in coverage by Business Wire (Business Wire coverage on telepsychiatry benefits via Yahoo Finance), support broader adoption of telepsychiatry as a cost-effective strategy to reduce strain on emergency care services.

For more details on the study's methodology and implications for health systems, visit Innovaccer's announcement of the peer-reviewed telepsychiatry research results.

The surge of AI-generated images across Montana's social media landscapes has sparked a profound dilemma for local photographers and viewers alike. As AI tools grow more advanced and accessible, images mimicking Montana's iconic scenery are shared widely, frequently blurring the line between real and synthetic - so much so that even seasoned professionals like Billings' Steve Leitner find it “weighs on me every time I see an AI image that somebody posted as a real photo and they get hundreds of likes...

yet I struggle with my content. I know my content's good” (AI or Real? Montana photographer warns of impact).

This growing skepticism undermines public trust in what we see, with newsrooms and platforms reckoning with the need for robust authentication - industry initiatives like C2PA-compliant cameras and Adobe's Content Credentials are making headway, although widespread adoption, especially among smaller outlets, remains a challenge (Artificial Intelligence's impact on photojournalism).

While AI opens creative doors and democratizes content creation, users, brands, and consumers alike are recalibrating their relationship with authenticity: genuine, emotionally resonant photography still outperforms perfection, with platforms and audiences showing increasing preference for relatable, human-made visuals (Why Genuine Visuals Are Winning Trust).

As Montana's social feeds are flooded with flawless yet soulless AI images, the essential challenge for creators and viewers is to discern and value the irreplaceable “feeling” authentic photography provides.

Meta has launched its first Llama 4-powered standalone AI app, delivering a deeply personalized and social digital assistant experience across iOS, Android, and desktop.

The app integrates advanced voice capabilities - including full-duplex conversation and celebrity-modeled voices - image generation, and editing features, all anchored by the open-source Llama 4 model, renowned for its state-of-the-art performance and cost efficiency.

Users can link Facebook and Instagram accounts to enhance the AI's contextual understanding, allowing for tailored recommendations and meaningful interactions, while controlling data sharing and privacy within the app.

A highlight is the Discover feed, which encourages sharing and remixing AI-generated prompts and content, transforming the assistant into a vibrant, community-driven platform.

Integration with Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses enables seamless conversation handoff between devices, supporting hands-free, everyday use. The app leverages Meta's decade-long personalization expertise and positions itself as a strong competitor to ChatGPT and Google's Gemini, focusing on consumer engagement and versatility rather than business productivity for now.

As CEO Mark Zuckerberg noted,

“This is the beginning of a long journey to build this out.”

For a detailed exploration of its multimodal Llama 4 engine and competitive features, see Meta's official Llama 4 model announcement.

Consumer technology reporters have also highlighted unique social and voice features that differentiate Meta AI, noting its intuitive UX but cautioning its primary use as a personal companion for users within the Meta ecosystem (see Decrypt's review).

The following table summarizes key Llama 4 models powering the experience:

Model	Active Parameters	Experts	Total Parameters	Key Features
Llama 4 Scout	17B	16	109B	10M token context, image grounding
Llama 4 Maverick	17B	128	400B	Multimodal, beats GPT-4o & Gemini 2.0 benchmarks
Llama 4 Behemoth	288B	16	~2T	Most powerful, leads STEM performance

Anthropic has unveiled its most advanced AI models to date - Claude Opus 4 and Claude Sonnet 4 - setting new industry benchmarks in coding, sophisticated reasoning, and AI agent functionality.

Claude Opus 4 excels at complex, long-running tasks, sustaining performance over thousands of steps and leading coding benchmarks like SWE-bench (72.5%) and Terminal-bench (43.2%), with results validated by enterprise users such as Rakuten and Cognition.

Its hybrid reasoning modes offer near-instant responses or extended, step-by-step analysis, while improved memory features allow for long-term continuity in projects and tool use.

Claude Sonnet 4, an efficient successor to Sonnet 3.7, delivers state-of-the-art results (72.7% on SWE-bench) for everyday development tasks and is now widely accessible - even to free users.

Both models are available through Anthropic's API, Amazon Bedrock, and Google Cloud Vertex AI, with Opus 4 priced at $15/$75 and Sonnet 4 at $3/$15 per million input/output tokens according to TechCrunch's analysis of model features and pricing.

The rollout coincided with Anthropic's inaugural developer conference and immediate integration into development tools, notably enabling public preview in GitHub Copilot for enhanced code generation and review workflows as detailed in the AWS Amazon Bedrock release and Anthropic's official launch announcement.

As Anthropic pursues ambitious growth targets backed by robust funding, these new models promise greater reliability, control, and productivity for software engineers, researchers, and businesses alike.

AI adoption is fueling a quiet revolution among small businesses in Billings and across the U.S., driving both productivity and resilience even amid economic uncertainty.

Research from GoDaddy and UCLA Anderson economists shows that 72% of small business owners using AI-powered tools like GoDaddy Airo reported increased productivity, while 61% experienced higher revenues in just the past six months - a trend documented in the AI's Impact on Local Economies report by GoDaddy.

This tech-driven boost isn't just about dollars: Every new AI-enabled website published last year contributed to an average of 20 new jobs per county, helping reduce local unemployment and deepen economic impact.

Small businesses are leveraging AI for tasks like content creation, marketing, customer service, and even recruitment, with 44% of microbusinesses confident that generative AI will help them compete with larger peers, according to the Spring 2025 GoDaddy Small Business Research Lab survey.

Still, challenges remain: 38% of owners cite lack of AI knowledge as a barrier, highlighting a growing need for digital education. Yet optimism persists, as 66% expect revenue growth this year even as nearly half anticipate a weaker overall economy - a testament to the staying power of smart, right-sized entrepreneurship.

As Alexandra Rosen, GoDaddy's head economist, notes,

“Small businesses using AI tools are transforming local economies through job creation. With small businesses already creating seven jobs per entrepreneur on average, this additional boost from AI presents an unparalleled opportunity to strengthen local and national economies.”

For more data on how AI is supercharging Main Street, explore the GoDaddy Venture Forward Quarterly Newsletter Q1, 2025.

Convenience stores across Billings and beyond are rapidly embracing AI-enhanced loyalty solutions to boost customer engagement and drive sales. Platforms like Liquid Barcodes, known for partnerships with industry leaders such as 7-Eleven, Circle K, and Maxol, are now powering dynamic, gamified loyalty programs for small and independent operators facing stiff competition amid digital transformation.

Recent rollouts - like the Go! Nisqually Markets app - leverage features such as tailored stamp cards, subscription drink plans, daily games, and real-time analytics, making each visit both rewarding and interactive.

According to a recent case study of Smith Oil's mobile loyalty app impact, introducing a mobile loyalty app more than doubled active loyalty customer numbers in just two months, demonstrating the tangible impact of the technology.

As industry experts emphasize the importance of customer attention in loyalty programs, the secret is in customer attention:

“Great loyalty is about grabbing your customer's attention - and never letting go.”

Table 1 below highlights key features from recent deployments:

Feature	Description/Example	Retailer
Subscription Programs	Coffee and fountain drink subscriptions, recurring revenue	Nisqually Markets, Circle K
Gamification	Daily prize games, digital stamp cards	Nisqually Markets, Smith Oil
Mobile Payment Integration	Fuel Pay app, contactless car wash payment	Smith Oil, Sunshine Gasoline

From cloud-based management and real-time promotional targeting to seamless point-of-sale integration, platforms like Liquid Barcodes are becoming indispensable for establishing customer loyalty.

Companies expanding across the U.S., such as Liquid Barcodes, are poised to redefine the retail experience in Montana and nationwide; learn more in this in-depth feature about Liquid Barcodes' US platform launch.

Bridger Aerospace, headquartered in Belgrade, Montana, is redefining wildfire management with AI-enhanced aerial intelligence. The State of Montana recently awarded Bridger an exclusive-use contract, valued at a minimum of $648,000 annually, to deploy a specially modified Daher Kodiak 100 equipped with advanced sensors and a real-time operator workstation.

This innovative aircraft, the first major outcome of Bridger's FMS Aerospace acquisition, delivers rapid identification of wildfire hotspots, precise perimeter mapping, and near-real-time infrared imagery to firefighting crews, boosting the speed and accuracy of emergency response.

As Bridger expands its portfolio of exclusive-use contracts and scales its national and international fleet, CEO Sam Davis explained,

“With this award, nearly all of Bridger's air attack and sensor-equipped fleet is either committed or currently operational for the 2025 fire season. This opportunity...enables us to support critical firefighting operations in our home state.”

The partnership's impact goes beyond Montana, with Bridger securing record 120-day task orders for four CL-415EAF “Super Scooper” aircraft from the US Forest Service, cementing its role as a key technology-forward provider in aerial wildland firefighting.

For a detailed overview of Bridger's technology and contract specifics, explore the official press release on Bridger's Montana contract, get insights on the company's evolving use of AI in wildfire seasons from MontanaRightNow coverage of Bridger Aerospace's AI wildfire response, and review contract implications in the StockTitan analysis of Bridger Aerospace Montana contract.

Contract	Aircraft	Term	Annual Value	Key Capabilities
Montana Exclusive-Use	Daher Kodiak 100 (AI-powered)	1 year + 2 optional	$648,000 min.	Hotspot detection, fire mapping, real-time data
US Forest Service	CL-415EAF Super Scooper (4 units)	120 days each	Undisclosed	Rapid aerial suppression, fleet pre-positioning

Gary Marcus, a leading voice in AI skepticism, is urging both policymakers and the public not to be swept up by the current hype cycle surrounding generative AI. While industry leaders tout imminent breakthroughs and astronomical valuations, Marcus repeatedly cautions that large language models (LLMs) have hit a “point of diminishing returns,” plagued by persistent technical flaws such as hallucinations and reasoning errors that limit their real-world utility.

He points out that present-day generative AI excels at tasks like coding assistance and text generation, but often fails at deeper comprehension, rigorous logic, or eliminating bias - problems that continued “scaling” will not solve.

In interviews and recent books, Marcus advocates for a regulatory approach akin to the FDA for AI and champions a shift to neurosymbolic approaches, which blend neural networks with symbolic logic to enhance interpretability and reliability.

As evidence of his caution, Marcus notes,

“We are not on the best path right now, either technically or morally,”

and warns that unchecked AI hype risks shaping policy and investment around unrealistic expectations.

The current economic outlook underscores his concerns: many AI companies post modest profits at best, with future growth likely requiring “reliable and trustworthy” AI that goes beyond today's LLMs according to Gary Marcus's recent analysis.

To illustrate industry and societal impact, here's a summary table based on Marcus's 2025 predictions:

Category	2025 Outlook
AGI Arrival	No AGI by end of 2025
Workforce Replaced	<10% (mostly under 5%)
AI Reliability	Hallucinations, reasoning errors persist
Profitability	Modest/nonexistent for most; chip makers profit
Regulation	Europe leads; US lags

For a critique of speculative “AI doomsday” narratives and more on why Marcus believes fear and hype benefit Big Tech more than society, read his deep dive into the AI 2027 scenario's pitfalls.

Finally, Marcus's call for hybrid, accountable AI and public engagement in governance is highlighted in his guidance for steering AI towards human values in this AI for Good address.

As Marcus emphasizes,

“We shouldn't be letting the big tech companies decide everything for humanity”

- reminding Billings and beyond to engage critically as AI continues to reshape our world.

Alphabet, parent company of Google, delivered blockbuster financial results in Q1 2025 with revenue hitting $90.23 billion and earnings per share soaring to $2.81 - beating analysts' expectations and sparking a 4% share price rally according to CNBC's earnings report.

AI innovation is at the heart of this momentum, with the rollout of the Gemini 2.5 model powering over 1.5 billion monthly AI Overviews users and significant gains in Google Cloud, where revenue jumped 28% year-over-year and margins rose to 17.8%.

CEO Sundar Pichai emphasized this strategy, noting,

“We continued to see healthy growth and momentum across the business, including AI powering many of our products and platforms,”

as outlined in his Q1 remarks on Google's official blog.

Strategic acquisitions, like the $32 billion agreement to buy Wiz to bolster cloud security, and unprecedented investment - $75 billion in annual AI infrastructure capex - underscore Alphabet's ambitions.

The company's autonomous vehicle arm, Waymo, is also scaling up fast with 250,000 paid rides weekly, a fivefold increase over last year. For a detailed breakdown, see the table below summarizing key metrics:

Metric	Q1 2025	YoY Change
Revenue	$90.23B	+12%
EPS	$2.81	--
Net Income	$34.54B	+46%
Google Cloud Revenue	$12.26B	+28%
Google Cloud Margin	17.8%	+8.4 pts
Advertising Revenue	$66.89B	+9%
Waymo Weekly Rides	250,000	+25%

Despite increased AI investments slightly tempering future earnings outlooks, analysts maintain a bullish view on Alphabet's long-term trajectory, as reported by SiliconANGLE's in-depth analysis.

China's relentless pursuit of AI and semiconductor self-sufficiency is escalating global tech competition, reshaping the balance between open innovation and security-driven self-reliance.

President Xi Jinping recently renewed calls for “self-reliance and self-strengthening” in AI, urging rapid breakthroughs in high-end chips, foundational software, and talent - despite ongoing export controls imposed by the U.S. and its allies China's Xi calls for self-sufficiency in AI development amid US rivalry.

In response, China released extensive policy blueprints aiming to modernize manufacturers and strengthen AI, chip, and IT infrastructure through ambitious national investments China releases plan aimed at upgrading IT manufacturers.

The results are already felt globally as domestic innovators like DeepSeek have launched advanced AI reasoning models trained on local hardware, narrowing the gap with American leaders and outperforming some in cost and development speed.

The semiconductor sector illustrates this duality: while China is projected to supply 27% of its own AI chips by the end of 2025, it still relies on imports for critical lithography equipment and advanced node technology, yet plans to increase domestic AI compute market share from one-third in 2024 to an estimated 90% by 2029 How far is China from becoming self-sufficient in AI?.

“The challenge for China is not just about technology, but about building an independent, controllable eco-system while staying engaged with global standards.”

Billings, MT stands at the forefront of a rapidly evolving tech landscape as local businesses, policymakers, and innovators embrace artificial intelligence and digital transformation.

In 2025, Montana solidified its status as a tech policy leader, passing groundbreaking legislation on digital rights, data privacy, and AI use while balancing innovation with consumer protection - such as the “right to compute” law ensuring Montanans have the freedom to own and use technology, and new protections for neural and genetic data that have placed the state ahead of national trends.

Local economists highlight that AI is already making a real impact on Montana's businesses and workforce - boosting productivity, recruitment, and job satisfaction by automating tasks and improving candidate-job matching according to the Montana BBER's 2025 economic outlook.

Reflecting a broader national debate, Montana's lawmakers are also working to ensure regulations like HB 513 protect against deceptive AI while avoiding vague or overreaching measures that could stifle innovation and free expression - CCIA's policy director warned that “the bill's vague terms and broad scope could chill free expression and lead to over-censorship by online platforms” if not amended appropriately:

“Responsible technology companies are committed to ensuring that AI tools are used ethically and transparently. But HB 513, in its current form, would put innovation at risk by placing unfair liability on the tools rather than on the bad actors who misuse them…We urge Montana lawmakers to adopt the proposed amendments to better target intentional misuse while preserving the ability of businesses and individuals to engage in protected, creative, and lawful expression.”

As national platforms and AI tools continue to expand, with the App Store ecosystem alone facilitating over $400 billion in developer billings and sales in 2024 while supporting millions of American jobs according to Apple's latest economic impact report, Billings is seizing the moment - adopting smart automation, prioritizing digital rights, and growing its startup community to shape a future that's both resilient and responsive to global technological change.