This Month's Latest Tech News in Fort Lauderdale, FL - Sunday August 31st 2025 Edition

Fort Lauderdale's tech moment picked up real momentum this spring when immersive‑tech firm Infinite Reality tapped Sterling Bay to co‑develop a 60‑acre flagship campus on a remediated Superfund/incinerator site at 1400 NW 31st Avenue, a multi‑phase project that promises more than 1,000 jobs (average six‑figure salaries), over 100,000 sq ft of Class A office space, and a 2026 opening that aims to anchor immersive media, AI and entertainment growth in the region - read the Infinite Reality announcement on GlobeNewswire (Infinite Reality announcement) and local coverage from the South Florida Business Journal (South Florida Business Journal coverage).

The project's scale and site transformation - from long‑abandoned incinerator to a future‑facing tech campus - underscore how large developments, conferences, and AI hiring are converging; nearby workforce pipelines, including short, practical options such as Nucamp AI Essentials for Work 15‑week bootcamp, can help translate headline jobs into local career pathways.

Category	Details
Project	Infinite Reality + Sterling Bay 60‑acre flagship campus
Location	1400 NW 31st Avenue, Fort Lauderdale (remediated Superfund/incinerator site)
Size	60 acres
Jobs	More than 1,000 (average six‑figure salary)
Office space	100,000+ sq ft Class A
Timeline	Construction expected to begin early 2026; opening planned 2026

“This isn't just a headquarters - it's the heart of Infinite Reality's future. As a proud South Florida resident, this project is deeply personal to me. It's about transforming a community I love into a global hub for immersive technology and creativity. We're building opportunity, fueling innovation, and laying the foundation for a lasting legacy. Partnering with a world-class development firm like Sterling Bay ensures that this vision is realized at the highest level - and that Fort Lauderdale becomes a defining force in the future of the digital economy.”

Infinite Reality has tapped Chicago developer Sterling Bay to transform a long‑abandoned Superfund parcel at 1400 NW 31st Avenue into a 60‑acre technology and entertainment campus that will serve as iR's global headquarters, with construction expected to begin in early 2026 and an opening targeted the same year; the project promises more than 1,000 new jobs (average six‑figure salaries) and over 100,000 sq ft of Class A office space, turning the site that once housed the Wingate Road incinerator into a regional engine for immersive media, AI and production - read the Infinite Reality official announcement on GlobeNewswire and further reporting on the deal and city terms in Bisnow and the South Florida Business Journal.

Category	Details
Project	Infinite Reality + Sterling Bay 60‑acre flagship campus
Location	1400 NW 31st Avenue, Fort Lauderdale (remediated Superfund/incinerator site)
Size	60 acres
Jobs	More than 1,000 (average six‑figure salary)
Office space	100,000+ sq ft Class A
Timeline	Construction begins early 2026; opening planned 2026

“This isn't just a headquarters - it's the heart of Infinite Reality's future. As a proud South Florida resident, this project is deeply personal to me. It's about transforming a community I love into a global hub for immersive technology and creativity. We're building opportunity, fueling innovation, and laying the foundation for a lasting legacy. Partnering with a world-class development firm like Sterling Bay ensures that this vision is realized at the highest level - and that Fort Lauderdale becomes a defining force in the future of the digital economy.”

Infinite Reality official announcement on GlobeNewswire | Bisnow coverage of the Infinite Reality Sterling Bay deal | South Florida Business Journal reporting on the city terms

Algorhythm (RIME) expands via SemiCab acquisition and Fort Lauderdale financial reporting: the Q1 2025 report shows revenue of $2.0M (down from $2.4M a year ago) but a healthier gross margin of 25.1%, even as GAAP net loss widened to $9.2M largely from a $6.4M non‑cash warrant fair‑value charge; management is pitching the newly acquired SMCB/SemiCab India - an AI‑enabled, cloud‑based transportation platform with a current annualized run rate of $4.6M, an active fleet of 140 trucks and access to 450 more that could push annualized revenue above $23M in H2 2025 - as the play to turn the story around after softer karaoke product sales and tariff headwinds (read the full Q1 release on GlobeNewswire and the earnings‑call transcript for details).

The company reduced inventory 14% to $1.9M, held $3.3M in cash at quarter end, and reported an adjusted non‑GAAP loss of $3.2M - concrete cost cuts and a logistics‑first strategy that make the next two quarters the ones to watch for meaningfully different results.

Metric	Q1 2025
Revenue	$2.0 million
Gross profit margin	25.1%
Net loss (GAAP)	$9.2 million
Adjusted net loss (non‑GAAP)	$3.2 million
SemiCab run rate	$4.6 million (annualized); potential >$23M in H2 2025
Cash on hand	$3.3 million
Inventory	$1.9 million (down 14%)

Grant Thornton's announced acquisition of Fort Lauderdale–headquartered Auxis stands to turbocharge the region's nearshore AI and advisory ecosystem by folding Auxis' tech‑enabled shared‑services model into Grant Thornton Advisors' growing full‑service platform; Auxis brings roughly 1,400 multilingual professionals and delivery centers in Costa Rica and Colombia, deep experience in AI and automation, and nearshore outsourcing across finance, IT, HR and customer service - read the Auxis press release about the Grant Thornton acquisition (Auxis press release: Grant Thornton and Auxis join forces) and Grant Thornton's announcement on how the deal expands its advisory footprint (Grant Thornton Advisors announcement: Completes deal to join forces with Auxis); the practical win for Fort Lauderdale is tangible: a local HQ that now sits at the center of a multinational delivery network designed to speed AI‑powered process modernization for Fortune 1000 and upper‑middle‑market clients, turning nearshoring's “real‑time collaboration and cultural alignment” into a competitive recruiting and client‑service advantage.

Fact	Detail
Headquarters	Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Workforce	~1,400 professionals (primarily Costa Rica & Colombia)
Core services	Finance, IT, HR, Customer Service, AI & Automation, Cybersecurity
Strategic aim	Integrate Auxis' nearshore outsourcing to scale Grant Thornton Advisors' full‑service, AI‑enabled advisory
Terms	Not disclosed

“Bringing Auxis into the Grant Thornton platform is a milestone moment for us. Auxis' proven shared services, nearshoring expertise, and tech‑enabled solutions are a natural fit for our world‑class model. This deal allows us to deepen client engagement and enhance our offerings - delivered with speed, scalability, and quality.” - Jim Peko, CEO of Grant Thornton Advisors LLC

AIoT World Expo 2026 headed to Broward County Convention Center brings the convergence of AI and IoT to Fort Lauderdale on February 10–12, 2026, offering three days of deep‑dive sessions, an exhibition hall, and networking designed to accelerate real‑world AIoT deployments - from edge AI and real‑time analytics to AI‑driven cybersecurity and predictive maintenance; organizers frame the show as the premier forum for the AI+IoT ecosystem, with registration and calls for speakers already open - read the event preview on IoT Evolution World (AIoT World Expo 2026 preview on IoTEvolutionWorld) or see the public event listing (AIoT World Expo 2026 event listing on EverythingRF) for logistics and focus areas - this is a concentrated moment for local employers, developers, and training programs to turn demos of digital twins and adaptive manufacturing into hireable skills.

Category	Details
Date	February 10–12, 2026
Location	Broward County Convention Center, Fort Lauderdale, FL
Format	Three days: conference sessions, exhibition hall, networking
Key focus areas	Edge AI, real‑time analytics, AI‑powered cybersecurity, AI in IoT development
Affiliation	Part of the #TECHSUPERSHOW (collocated expos)
Registration	Open (call for speakers and sponsors active)

“We launched AIoT World Expo because it's clear that the convergence of AI and IoT is no longer on the horizon - it's happening now, and it's transforming industries at a staggering pace,” said Rich Tehrani, TMC's CEO and Group Editor-in-Chief.

eMerge Americas completes acquisition and appoints a chief AI officer to strengthen regional AI programming - eMerge Americas has acquired Miami AI Hub and tapped its founder, Burhan Sebin, as the organization's first Chief AI Officer to expand AI-focused programming and education across South Florida; the group says it will launch a Miami AI School to cultivate AI leadership and convert conference energy into concrete, hireable skills - essentially turning conference stages into classrooms - and positions eMerge as a stronger convener for startups, enterprises, and training partners looking to scale talent locally (read the South Florida Business Journal coverage of eMerge Americas acquisition and Chief AI Officer appointment South Florida Business Journal: eMerge Americas inks acquisition, appoints chief AI officer and eMerge Americas' official news release on the acquisition and appointment eMerge Americas news: Acquires Miami AI Hub & appoints Chief AI Officer).

Fact	Detail
Acquisition	Miami AI Hub
New role	Chief AI Officer - Burhan Sebin (founder, Miami AI Hub)
Initiative	Miami AI School (AI leadership / training)
Primary sources	South Florida Business Journal coverage of the acquisition and appointment; eMerge Americas official news release on the acquisition and Chief AI Officer appointment

Fort Lauderdale municipal IT leadership and modernization continues with acting CIO appointment as Angela Marinas - a 25‑year public‑ and private‑sector veteran who joined the city as director of enterprise resource planning in 2020 and was serving as chief digital officer and assistant IT director - officially took over the city's IT helm on April 18, replacing Tamecka McKay; Marinas brings hands‑on experience with Infor CloudSuite, retiring legacy systems such as FAMIS and Cyborg, and applying AI, machine learning and IoT to municipal apps, and her elevation keeps momentum on projects that materially improved resilience after the “1‑in‑1,000‑year” flood knocked out the main data center.

Read GovTech's coverage of Marinas' appointment (GovTech: Angela Marinas named acting CIO - Fort Lauderdale IT leadership) and the outlet's Fort Lauderdale reporting (GovTech: Fort Lauderdale reporting on ERP and data-center consolidation) for context on the city's ongoing ERP, data‑center consolidation and AI‑enabled service management efforts.

Fact	Detail
Acting CIO	Angela Marinas
Official takeover	April 18, 2025
Prior city roles	Director of ERP (2020), Chief Digital Officer & Assistant IT Director
Notable modernization work	Infor CloudSuite implementation; retiring FAMIS and Cyborg; AI/ML/IoT municipal solutions

“We have made enormous strides in modernizing the city's aging technology infrastructure and business systems, including replacing a 50-year-old financial system. The modernization of the city's ERP system was critical to business continuity after the 1-in-1,000-year flood, during which we lost our main data center located in the former city hall. Despite the enormous loss, we were able to continue paying our vendors and employees,” McKay said.

CentralReach earns national recognition as a Top AI Company of 2025 - Fort Lauderdale–based CentralReach debuted on The Software Report's Top 25 AI Companies, ranking 5th for its AI capabilities, organizational strength, and leadership; see the full list on The Software Report (The Software Report Top 25 AI Companies of 2025) and the company announcement on GlobeNewswire (CentralReach press release on GlobeNewswire).

The recognition calls out CentralReach's care‑focused AI - including CR ClaimCheckAI™, CR ScheduleAI™ and CR NoteGuardAI™ - which the company reports cuts clinician admin time by at least 50%, trims roughly two days from insurance billing cycles, and has helped drive a 20%+ rise in appointments; those concrete efficiency gains are a vivid example of AI moving beyond proof‑of‑concept into faster, more accessible autism and IDD care for families, and they spotlight why regional employers, funders, and training programs should pay attention to healthcare‑centered AI adoption.

Fact	Detail
Ranking	5th - The Software Report Top AI Companies of 2025
Notable AI products	CR ClaimCheckAI™, CR ScheduleAI™, CR NoteGuardAI™
Reported impact	≥50% reduction in clinician admin time; ~2 days faster billing; 20%+ increase in appointments
Trusted by	200,000+ professionals globally
Headquarters	Fort Lauderdale, FL

“I am honored to see CentralReach recognized as a top AI software company along with market leaders like Anthropic, Scale, Perplexity, and Glean,” said Chris Sullens, CEO of CentralReach. “This recognition highlights the transformative impact our AI-powered solutions, such as CR ClaimCheckAI™, CR ScheduleAI™, and CR NoteGuardAI™, are already making on tech-enabled autism and IDD care. Our customers have rapidly adopted these innovations, and we are seeing firsthand how they are materially improving the way care is delivered across the country. There is a very large autism and IDD care gap, and while the industry works toward getting more professionals in market through university programs and other efforts, we will continue to be hyper-focused on helping our customers close that gap through responsible, purpose-built AI that supports providers, empowers clinicians, and ultimately drives better outcomes for the individuals and families they serve.”

Cast AI raises $108M to cut cloud costs - local fundraising signal: Miami‑headquartered Cast AI closed an oversubscribed $108 million Series C led by G2 Venture Partners and SoftBank Vision Fund 2, a round that underwrites its push to make Application Performance Automation (APA) the operational norm for Kubernetes and AI workloads; the company - now serving ~2,100 customers including HuggingFace, Akamai and BMW - says APA turns performance signals into real‑time actions (from instant, hyper‑efficient GPU deployments to smarter autoscaling) to fight the chronic underutilization that leaves roughly 10% of CPUs and 23% of memory idle.

With a post‑money valuation reported near $900M and plans to expand globally, the deal is a clear signal for Miami's cloud‑infrastructure cluster and for local teams hunting practical ways to cut AI compute bills - read Cast AI's announcement and TechCrunch's coverage for the full context.

Fact	Detail
Series	Series C
Amount	$108 million
Lead investors	G2 Venture Partners; SoftBank Vision Fund 2
Headquarters	Miami, Florida
Customers	~2,100 (notable: Akamai, BMW, HuggingFace)
Category / tech	Application Performance Automation (APA); Kubernetes & cloud optimization
Utilization benchmark	~10% CPU, ~23% memory (typical cluster underutilization cited)
Reported valuation	Near $900M (TechCrunch)

“APA didn't exist five years ago, because we hadn't invented it yet. This round fuels our continued expansion of a category we created, and pushes the boundaries of what is possible in cloud automation.”

Cast AI official Series C announcement • TechCrunch coverage of Cast AI $108M Series C

Education, workforce and public‑safety AI initiatives progress across Broward County - the district is moving from cautious labs to large‑scale adoption, rolling out Microsoft 365 Copilot in what leaders call the largest K‑12 Copilot implementation worldwide while an AI Task Force (50 members) has built resources and teacher training to guide ethical classroom use (WLRN report on AI in Broward County classrooms); at the same time, new safety tech is highly visible on day one - CrisisAlert/panic‑button badges and other emergency measures have been distributed across campuses to speed 911 response and give staff immediate location tracking, a detail that made the start of 2025/26 feel materially different for teachers and families (CBS Miami coverage of Broward safety and AI measures).

Workforce and community links are being reinforced by local training and outreach too: Broward College's AI V.I.B.E. expo brought students, employers and regional colleges together to explore practical AI skills for jobs in the near term (Broward College AI V.I.B.E. expo details and outcomes), so the county's strategy now pairs classroom pilots with tangible safety upgrades and vocational pathways aimed at turning AI fluency into hireable skills - and a striking, human reminder: tens of thousands of staff‑worn alert badges mean seconds, not minutes, in an emergency.

Initiative	Detail
Broward Schools Copilot	Districtwide Microsoft 365 Copilot rollout; phased high‑school start and AI Task Force guidance (50 members)
Safety tech	CrisisAlert/panic‑button badges distributed across ~250+ sites (~30,000 badges reported)
Workforce outreach	Broward College AI V.I.B.E. expo - free public event connecting students and employers

“As educators, we can't be afraid of the pace of technology. We have to embrace it and we have to ensure that our students are prepared to embrace it as well.” - Manuel Castañeda, BCPS (quoted in WLRN)

Local analytics and regulatory context matters because national shifts are already reshaping Fort Lauderdale's talent and policy landscape: heavy layoff rounds at tech giants - captured in Fortune's coverage of Microsoft's cuts - plus industry tracking that counts roughly 82,000 tech job losses year‑to‑date are tightening the pool of experienced AI engineers even as demand for AI, cloud and cybersecurity skills rises (see the Mobile Ecosystem Forum synthesis of strategic and tax drivers).

That paradox - fewer steady roles but stronger demand for specialized AI talent - means regional employers and training programs must compete on upskilling, practical certifications, and near‑term hiring signals rather than just senior resumes; at the same time, a proposed federal 10‑year bar on state AI rules raises new regulatory uncertainty that could affect procurement, compliance work, and local public‑sector AI deployments.

Read the reporting on Microsoft's workforce moves and the broader strategic implications in Fortune's report on Microsoft layoffs and the MEF analysis of AI investment and tax drivers, and watch how these national currents translate into local hiring, contract terms, and training priorities.

Metric / Issue	Reported figure / note
Microsoft layoffs	~6,000 in May + ~9,000 in July (reported by Fortune / Business Insider)
Tech layoffs (2025 YTD)	~81,972 employees (layoffs.fyi / NerdWallet analysis)
AI adoption projection	~75% of enterprises to operationalize AI in 2025 (Gartner projection cited in MEF)
Regulatory flashpoint	Proposed 10‑year federal bar on state AI rules (raises constitutional & consumer‑protection stakes)

“When I saw the layoff, I realized that job security isn't real.”

Conclusion: What to watch next - permits, hiring, conferences, and AI upskilling: the next few quarters will be a test of execution as famed redevelopment plans for 1400 NW 31st Ave move from press release to paperwork - keep an eye on the City's permitting portal and LauderBuild updates for tempo and zoning notes (Fort Lauderdale permitting and building information) and on the project's timelines and hiring signals reported by Infinite Reality and local business press (Infinite Reality and Sterling Bay co-development announcement); employers and jobseekers should watch permitting milestones closely because they often drive procurement windows and the first tranche of hiring.

At the same time, conferences and regional expos will concentrate recruiter activity and practical role openings, so pairing those signals with short, focused training - like Nucamp's 15‑week AI Essentials for Work - can convert announcements into candidate readiness quickly (AI Essentials for Work registration and program details).

In short: monitor permit logs, track early contractor and job postings, attend industry events for on‑the‑ground hiring cues, and prioritize targeted upskilling to be first in line when the campus and its ecosystem start hiring.

Attribute	Information
Description	Gain practical AI skills for any workplace; learn tools, prompts, and apply AI across business functions
Length	15 Weeks
Courses included	AI at Work: Foundations; Writing AI Prompts; Job Based Practical AI Skills
Cost (early bird)	$3,582
Registration	AI Essentials for Work - registration (Nucamp)

“This isn't just a headquarters - it's the heart of Infinite Reality's future. As a proud South Florida resident, this project is deeply personal to me. It's about transforming a community I love into a global hub for immersive technology and creativity. We're building opportunity, fueling innovation, and laying the foundation for a lasting legacy. Partnering with a world-class development firm like Sterling Bay ensures that this vision is realized at the highest level - and that Fort Lauderdale becomes a defining force in the future of the digital economy.”