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

Fayetteville, NC is experiencing a surge in AI and tech momentum as statewide investments and local initiatives foster innovation, workforce development, and inclusive economic growth.

North Carolina's reputation as an AI Emergent State is being solidified by strategic investments in AI education, research, and industry, aiming to add over 20,000 new jobs while intentionally closing digital equity gaps and empowering both urban and rural communities.

Fayetteville's tech ecosystem is further strengthened by events like the Power Breakfast, where local leaders and educators highlight the human-driven integration of AI into business and education; one panelist notes,

“The future belongs to those who can think critically, adapt boldly and collaborate with AI as a tool - not a substitute…”

underscoring the region's emphasis on responsible, people-first AI adoption as covered by the Greater Fayetteville Business Journal.

The momentum is also visible in Charlotte-based Left Main REI's recent seed funding to expand its AI-powered CRM for real estate, reflecting the diverse applications and investment interest in North Carolina tech as reported by The SaaS News.

Together, these advances position Fayetteville at the forefront of North Carolina's AI-driven transformation, with expanded opportunities for tech talent, businesses, and the next generation of digital innovators.

Fayetteville's tech and business communities are set to converge at the upcoming Power Breakfast: Applied Intelligence event, hosted by the Greater Fayetteville Business Journal on June 12, 2025.

Held at the Cape Fear Botanical Garden, this networking breakfast will unpack how artificial intelligence is revolutionizing sectors central to the region - including sales, education, healthcare, IT, and defense.

Industry experts will share actionable AI strategies and real-world applications, helping attendees understand how these technologies are driving innovation and operational efficiency.

Event highlights include a panel discussion, networking, and opportunities for business leaders to learn and future-proof their organizations. As described in the official event announcement, participants are encouraged to

explore how AI is reshaping business practices, driving innovation, and creating new opportunities

- emphasizing both immediate benefits and long-term outlooks for North Carolina's economic landscape.

For more details, visit the Applied Intelligence: The AI Revolution in Business event page, review coverage by the Greater Fayetteville Business Journal's official announcement, or see how similar Power Breakfast panels are inspiring local innovation in other North Carolina communities via the AI in Wilmington Power Breakfast Series.

The Emerging Technology Institute (ETI) is making waves across North Carolina by launching the state's first Registered Artificial Intelligence Specialist Apprenticeship Program, a landmark opportunity designed to bridge the AI talent gap and expand hands-on career pathways outside traditional higher education channels.

Officially registered with ApprenticeshipNC and backed by the U.S. Department of Labor, the one-year program uniquely combines paid, progressive wage AI job training with supplemental coursework, welcoming participants as young as 16 and advancing them through competency milestones rather than rigid training hours.

Apprentices gain crucial skills ranging from computer network maintenance and integrated system design to research and AI project collaboration, often working on technology-driven government initiatives.

Successful completers earn a nationally recognized Journeyworker certificate, bolstering their credentials for future employment at top companies or with ETI itself.

As James Freeman, ETI President, explains,

"We've done over 30 plus internships in the past year, but none of them leave with anything other than experience and the things they've learned. Now, anybody that comes through our community, anybody that comes through our program can leave with a certification sponsored by the Department of Labor."

For more on the program's tech-driven job pipeline and details on registration, visit the official Emerging Technology Institute apprenticeship announcement.

This initiative coincides with a broader push in North Carolina higher education, as Cape Fear Community College also launches an AI-focused curriculum blending data science, natural language processing, and real-world AI applications this fall - learn more via Cape Fear Community College's new AI program overview and WECT News coverage of local AI career readiness efforts.

Fayetteville's MatchAwards is setting a new standard for veteran-owned entrepreneurship by fusing AI and blockchain to empower small businesses seeking access to the $2 trillion government procurement market.

The platform's AI algorithms analyze detailed opportunity descriptions, not just NAICS codes, for more accurate and inclusive contract matching, while its MAPU utility token - built on Ethereum and available via pre-sales and AirDrop - enables feature unlocks, rewards participation, and drives next-generation monetization through advertising models like pay-per-click and pay-per-match.

Security and compliance are prioritized, with top-tier audits and a published legal review confirming MAPU's utility token classification. As CEO Clarence E. Briggs III explains,

“We didn't just build MAPU to ride the crypto wave. We built it to deliver real-world utility - to democratize access to government contracting and empower underrepresented small businesses with blockchain-powered tools that work.”

This innovation, combined with active exchange negotiations and a landmark revenue milestone from live ad activity, positions MatchAwards as an inclusion-first, blockchain-powered ecosystem for the veteran and small business community.

For further details, read about the MatchAwards platform's impact on government contracting, explore the MAPU token launch and its utility features, and review security priorities in their official announcement.

Facing a sharp rise in gun-related incidents - including a staggering 366% increase in homicides this year - the Fayetteville City Council implemented a citywide youth curfew for residents 16 and under, effective from 11 p.m.

to 6 a.m. as part of a one-year pilot program. The ordinance, adopted after fervent debate and modeled on Charlotte's Youth Protection Ordinance, allows several exceptions and calls for a phased-in enforcement approach prioritizing education before penalties are imposed.

Alongside legislative changes, the Council is expanding its use of technology, approving investments in AI-powered surveillance that include license plate readers, facial recognition, and advanced camera networks aimed at boosting public safety at city events and throughout public spaces.

This multi-pronged response follows high-profile incidents - a 12-year-old shot at a carnival and several festival-related shootings - and signals Fayetteville's intent to combine modern technology with direct civic measures.

Supporters, like Mayor Mitch Colvin, frame the action as urgent and community-driven, emphasizing,

“We have to get our parents and our guardians into this process and believe some legislation will help do that.”

While critics question curfew effectiveness and warn of unintended consequences, city leaders stress that these tools are meant to supplement, not supplant, youth engagement programs.

For further details on the curfew's enforcement strategy and AI-driven surveillance plans, see WRAL's report on Fayetteville's youth curfew and technology strategy, the Fayetteville Observer's coverage of council deliberations and public response, and the Mayor's announcement outlining sweeping new public safety measures.

The Council is set to revisit both technological and policy outcomes in the coming months to ensure lasting community impact.

North Carolina has reached a landmark legal settlement with Cortland Management LLC, the second-largest landlord in the state, halting the use of AI-powered tools to fix rental prices.

As part of a broader effort following the DOJ's case against RealPage, Inc. and its YieldStar software, Cortland - owner of over 5,000 units in major cities such as Charlotte and Raleigh - must stop using sensitive competitor data through RealPage or similar AI algorithms to set rents, and is now required to submit to regular compliance checks by the Attorney General's office.

This settlement, one of the first in the U.S. to restrict such AI-driven practices for a major landlord, is expected to influence similar actions nationwide and strengthen protections for renters affected by artificially inflated prices.

Attorney General Jeff Jackson emphasized,

“Today's settlement means one less landlord is using RealPage's unlawful AI software to charge North Carolinians unfair rents. We're going to keep fighting this case to make sure all landlords and property managers play by the rules and people can afford rent.”

Key terms of the agreement include oversight by court-appointed monitors and explicit bans on sharing or using non-public data from other landlords.

For an in-depth analysis, see coverage in WRAL on North Carolina's settlement with Cortland Management, background on the national antitrust context at Today's General Counsel's summary of the algorithmic pricing case, and official details from the North Carolina Department of Justice press release.

North Carolina marked its 2025 Technology Day with statewide celebrations, reaffirming its status as a technology and AI innovation leader. Governor Josh Stein's proclamation highlighted the state's impressive credentials, including the ninth-largest tech workforce in the U.S. and the highest proportion of women in tech - one-third of more than 300,000 professionals, as shown in the table below.

Metric	Value
U.S. Tech Workforce Rank	9th
Statewide Tech Employees	300,000+
Percentage of Women in Tech	33%

Key events included an AI-focused panel at the Lenovo Center and the annual State of Tech EXPONENTIAL conference in Durham, which drew leaders from IBM, Intel, and emerging startups.

The importance of public-private collaboration was underscored, with Lenovo's North America Communications Officer noting,

“The technology industry is a critical driver of North Carolina's economy, particularly the Research Triangle region, where Lenovo has a global headquarters and thousands of employees."

Efforts such as Lenovo's Evolve Small, which has directed $120,000 to women and minority-owned businesses in the Triangle, and the integration of advanced AI at major firms demonstrate the state's commitment to inclusive growth and innovation.

Explore more about the official proclamation and workforce milestones on WRAL's detailed coverage of North Carolina Technology Day 2025, see how top employers are celebrating diversity and impact in Lenovo's 20-year innovation story in the Triangle, or get all the details on the state's flagship tech event from NC TECH's official State of Tech EXPONENTIAL 2025 event page.

North Carolina has rapidly become a focal point in the national conversation on artificial intelligence (AI) ethics, as local leaders, educators, and lawmakers grapple with the risks of algorithmic bias and the boundaries of responsible regulation.

AI systems such as ChatGPT and Google Gemini continue to raise concerns about embedded bias, with recent research showing that large language and image-generation models often perpetuate gender, racial, and cultural stereotypes due to the nature of their training data and human labeling practices - a reality explored in the updated Teaching AI Ethics 2025: Bias series.

The debate has intensified as the U.S. House considers sweeping legislation that would pre-empt state-level AI laws - a move criticized by North Carolina's Attorney General and a bipartisan coalition of state leaders, who argue such a ban on local enforcement would erode crucial protections against deepfakes, scams, rental discrimination, and AI-enabled crimes.

As Attorney General Jeff Jackson warned,

“We're going to see AI everywhere in the next few years, and bad actors are going to intentionally misuse it to commit crimes and scam people.”

For now, the state's lawmakers signal a preference for adaptable, context-sensitive oversight, with several bills focused on deepfake penalties, housing discrimination, and transparency in automated hiring facing uncertain futures if federal preemption proceeds (see the full coverage on state-versus-federal dynamics in Trump's ‘Big Beautiful Bill' could eliminate state AI laws).

For a comparative look at other legislative approaches nationwide, readers can consult the AI 2025 Legislation tracker, which details North Carolina's suite of proposals among more than 75 new state AI laws enacted this year.

The result is a dynamic, high-stakes policy tug-of-war positioning North Carolina at the epicenter of America's evolving debate over ‘woke AI,' bias, and the ethical future of machine intelligence.

The dramatic rise of AI-driven data centers across North Carolina and the U.S. is triggering both urgent energy infrastructure discussions and major investments.

Duke Energy projects that AI data center energy demand could triple by 2030, leading the utility to propose an $83 billion five-year infrastructure plan that includes natural gas, solar, and nuclear, which regulators recently approved but some experts view as potentially excessive and costly to ratepayers detailed by Triangle Business Journal.

However, a Duke University study suggests much of this load could be met without new gas infrastructure if data centers were more flexible with their peak-time usage, possibly supporting 100 gigawatts of new capacity - equivalent to $2 trillion in investments - through modest curtailments according to Port City Daily.

The global data center industry is moving toward a $1 trillion capex future, with giants like Microsoft and Amazon each planning over $80 billion in new facilities, and local North Carolina expansions such as Digital Realty's campus in Charlotte and Apple's Maiden facility, emphasizing sustainability with renewable energy and advanced cooling systems like waterless and liquid cooling as reported by Data Center Knowledge.

The table below highlights key figures impacting NC and the broader U.S. energy landscape:

Metric	2025	2030 (projected)
U.S. data center power demand	35 GW	78 GW
U.S. electricity share (data centers)	4.4%	6.7–12%
NC ratepayer bill increase (avg./month)	N/A	$80
Global AI data center capacity (market share)	33%	70%

“Load flexibility is a promising near-term strategy to integrate new loads, reduce capacity expansion costs, and prioritize valuable investments.” - Tyler Norris, Duke University Nicholas Institute

Balancing these unprecedented energy needs with sustainability will require a collaborative approach among utilities, regulators, tech firms, and local communities to ensure North Carolina's AI leadership does not come at undue financial or environmental cost.

Fayetteville cybersecurity experts are warning small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) about a rapid escalation in AI-driven cyber threats, mirroring statewide and national trends.

According to the Q1/2025 Gen Threat Report, organizations have seen a 466% surge in phishing and a 186% increase in breached personal information this year, largely due to AI-enabled scams.

Sophisticated attackers now exploit vulnerabilities in artificial intelligence systems, using advanced tactics like prompt injection, model poisoning, and hyper-personalized spear-phishing that can elude traditional email defenses.

The 2025 Unit 42 Global Incident Response Report found that 70% of breaches occur simultaneously through multiple attack vectors - including endpoints, cloud, and human factors - with AI accelerating the speed and scale of attacks.

In North Carolina, phishing, business email compromise (BEC), and identity theft remain top threats; businesses in sectors such as healthcare, legal, supply chain, and education are most frequently targeted.

Notably, North Carolina ranked 13th nationally for cyber-related financial losses, with over $234 million in damages in 2024 per recent data privacy insights.

Experts recommend SMBs strengthen email security through DMARC, SPF, and DKIM, introduce AI-powered anomaly detection, and practice continuous staff training to recognize increasingly undetectable threats.

As attackers rapidly adopt AI for deepfake voice scams and polymorphic malware, a zero-trust posture and automated response capabilities are now critical to minimizing risk and operational disruption.

The United States is advancing the frontier of artificial intelligence and scientific research with the upcoming launch of the Doudna supercomputer at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in 2026, named in honor of Nobel laureate Jennifer Doudna, pioneer of CRISPR gene-editing technology.

Leveraging Dell's cutting-edge liquid-cooled server infrastructure and Nvidia's Vera Rubin AI platform, Doudna is set to deliver over 10 times the performance of current leading systems while enabling new breakthroughs in fusion energy, climate modeling, drug discovery, and quantum computing.

As a unified platform for over 11,000 researchers and multiple Department of Energy (DOE) user facilities, Doudna marries exascale high-performance computing with deep integration of AI, allowing near real-time data analysis and simulation.

In marking this pivotal leap, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang described the system as a “time machine for science - compressing years of discovery into days,” and Energy Secretary Chris Wright positioned AI as “the Manhattan Project of our time,” highlighting Doudna's role in ensuring American leadership in global scientific competition.

The table below summarizes Doudna's core technical advancements:

Feature	Doudna Supercomputer
Launch Year	2026
Main Technology	Nvidia Vera Rubin platform, Dell liquid-cooled servers
Performance vs. Predecessor	10x higher
Power Consumption	2–3x more, but 3–5x improved efficiency
Supported Research	AI, fusion, materials science, genomics, quantum computing
Researchers Served	11,000+

Read more about Doudna's impact on American science in the New York Times coverage on DOE's AI supercomputer, details of its architecture and integration in NVIDIA's official announcement, and broader implications for energy innovation and clean tech at OpenTools.ai's article on Doudna supercomputer.

Fayetteville's tech scene is rapidly evolving and establishing its place as both a regional and national innovation hub, driven by collaborative events, major investments, and federal partnerships.

The return of Tech ID Day in 2025 exemplifies this momentum, bringing together innovators, investors, and Department of Defense representatives for pitch contests, direct funding asks up to $10 million, and the launch of “The Forge” innovation hub - all focused on dual-use technologies for military and civilian impact.

As showcased at Tech ID Day:

“You saw a lot of government reps also asking questions. Well, that shows an investor that the government is interested in and sees value in it.”

Industry giants like SMX have established state-of-the-art facilities near key military sites, enabling rapid prototyping and digital transformation for national security missions (read about SMX's Fayetteville facility).

Economic development continues with the $4.6M Yeadon Fabric Domes manufacturing plant bringing 72 new jobs, underscoring Fayetteville's diverse opportunities from advanced manufacturing to AI and cloud solutions.

North Carolina's robust innovation ecosystem - featuring over 192,000 tech professionals and $3.1 billion in venture funding - supports Fayetteville's upward trajectory, while tailored workforce programs and regional academic partnerships fuel a rich tech talent pipeline (explore NC's tech sector highlights).

As this ecosystem grows, Nucamp's accessible bootcamps and scholarships help ensure local talent can participate in, and shape, Fayetteville's tech-driven future.