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

Weekly commentary: Miami's AI moment - education, healthcare, and policy converge - is arriving fast: the University of Miami's Miller School has launched an Office of AI in Medical Education to train students and equip faculty for ethical, practical AI use (University of Miami Miller School Office of AI in Medical Education announcement), state and federal policy shifts are reshaping validation and deployment timelines for clinical tools (see the ASE analysis of recent AI policy moves), and regional momentum is earning Miami “star hub” status in coverage of the emerging ecosystem (South Florida Business Journal: Miami AI ecosystem emerges as star hub).

That blend - classroom pilots, hospital workflows, and regulatory pressure - creates a real upskilling imperative; short, practical programs such as Nucamp AI Essentials for Work 15-week bootcamp registration can help clinical and nontechnical professionals learn prompt craft, tool use, and workplace applications so teams turn AI promise into measurable improvements rather than just another dashboard.

Bootcamp	Length	Early Bird Cost	Courses
AI Essentials for Work (Nucamp)	15 Weeks	$3,582	AI at Work: Foundations; Writing AI Prompts; Job Based Practical AI Skills

“As AI becomes integrated rapidly with clinical care and care processes become more efficient, there will be more time for physicians to communicate and care for their patients in a more humane manner, with AI as their intelligent assistant, with the most up-to-date knowledge at its fingertips,” said Latha Chandran, M.D., M.P.H., M.B.A.

1) University of Miami Miller School launches Office of AI in Medical Education - the Miller School has opened a dedicated Office of AI in Medical Education to train students in the ethical, practical use of AI and to give faculty the tools to weave AI into curricula and clinical teaching (University of Miami Miller School Office of AI in Medical Education announcement).

Led by inaugural faculty director Dr. Shirin Shafazand, who already teaches the elective “Introduction to Artificial Intelligence in Medicine and Public Health,” the office aims to move beyond demos to measurable outcomes - students are building AI agents and doing hands‑on projects - while technical director David Thole will align large‑model work with validation and safety practices.

The launch plugs into a broader campus effort: the University's IT dashboard lists 18 AI projects in flight and 183 completed initiatives, from grading assistants to ambient scribe pilots, illustrating how teaching, research and operational AI are converging on one medical campus (University of Miami AI projects dashboard).

Role	Name	Focus
Faculty Director	Shirin Shafazand, M.D., M.S.	AI course design; ethics; student projects
Technical Director	David Thole	ML/LLM integration, model validation

“The new Office of AI in Medical Education puts the University of Miami at the forefront of nationwide discussions on how best to incorporate AI tools into medical education. There are important questions to ask and answer. How should AI be taught? When should students be introduced to these tools? And how can we ensure their ethical and effective use?” - Dr. Shirin Shafazand

2) Miami‑Dade College inaugural Student AI Showcase - Miami Dade College turned its AI Center at the Wolfson Campus into a buzzing demo floor as 16 student teams unveiled applications using machine learning, robotics and natural language processing for industries from finance to fashion and healthcare, drawing more than 300 attendees and signaling how classroom labs are rapidly becoming hiring grounds for employers seeking demonstrable AI skills (WLRN coverage: Miami Dade College student AI showcase).

The showcase built on MDC's broader, institution‑wide push - credit certificates, associate and bachelor's degrees in applied AI and AI Centers on campus - that aims to produce job‑ready talent and give students practical portfolios employers can evaluate (Miami Dade College AI Center programs overview), and it tied into regional efforts like Miami Tech Works to connect graduates with startups and employers.

The result: a vivid demonstration that South Florida's talent pipeline is producing AI-capable graduates who can move from classroom projects to paid work faster than traditional curricula once allowed.

Metric	Count
Student teams showcased	16
Event attendees	300+
Students enrolled in recent semester	200+

“The AI Student Showcase is a bold reminder that the future isn't something we wait for - it's something we build. Students at MDC aren't just learning about artificial intelligence; they're using it to reimagine industries, solve real-world problems, and shape a smarter, more innovative tomorrow.” - Pedro Santos Acosta, Executive Director of Emerging Technologies at Miami Dade College

3) Miami‑Dade County Public Schools rolls out Google chatbots to 105,000+ students - the district's move from an initial ban to deploying Google's Gemini-powered chat tools in classrooms echoes a national pivot: Google's June rollout added more than 30 no‑cost educator tools that can draft lessons, generate rubrics and build interactive “Gems” for students, and admins can enable or restrict access from the console (Google Gemini Classroom announcement: educator AI tools and admin controls); local teachers report time saved on planning and grading, while district leaders say the bots are being used for tutoring, role‑play and quick feedback in high‑school settings (Atlantic feature on AI in education and district rollout impacts).

The speed of adoption raises familiar tradeoffs - potential gains in teacher productivity and differentiated instruction sit beside privacy and governance questions (age gates, data‑use promises and even default chat retention policies), so districts are pairing rollout with admin controls and training rather than a blind flip of the switch to avoid turning a classroom assistant into an opaque, district‑wide dependency.

“the ultimate teaching assistant - always available, always helpful.” - Mike Amante

4) Florida governor signals upcoming state AI regulatory framework - Governor Ron DeSantis has made clear Florida won't sit on the sidelines: he's promised a statewide AI plan “within the next few months,” floated the possibility of legislation to create guardrails, and warned that rapid adoption could mean major job disruption and a transfer of power to “tech overlords” (coverage summarizes his remarks and timeline).

The push comes as federal activity - including the White House's sweeping AI Action Plan that ties funding and procurement to national priorities - raises the stakes for any state-level rules, meaning Tallahassee will need a playbook that balances workforce protection, privacy and innovation while avoiding conflicts with federal incentives and fast-moving industry deployments (AskFlagler: DeSantis suggests AI regulations, Inside Government Contracts: White House AI Action Plan overview (July 2025)).

The upshot for Miami: local educators, hospitals and startups should expect policy signals soon - and plan for measurable governance, not just PR.

Item	Detail
Timeline	Governor plans to roll out an AI approach “within the next few months”
Legislative possibility	DeSantis said the state plan “may require some legislation”
US AI investment (2013–2024)	$471 billion (AI Index report)

“AI could functionally ‘turn over our society to a handful of big tech companies.'”

5) Healthcare AI research and deployments across South Florida - South Florida is moving from pilots to point‑of‑care action: the University of Miami Miller School published a staged, IRB‑backed framework that codifies human oversight, five workflow categories and POCAID steps so AI‑flagged findings can trigger care in “two to five minutes” rather than the next day (University of Miami Miller School AI radiology framework); UHealth has paired that operational mindset with a systemwide roll‑out of Aidoc's platform and 13 FDA‑cleared algorithms to prioritize acute scans and coordinate follow‑up at the point of scan (UHealth and Aidoc systemwide AI deployment for acute scan prioritization); and vendors like DeepHealth are pushing scalable informatics, Diagnostic Suite and SmartMammo tools that promise measurable screening gains (a cited 21% boost in cancer detection in mammography studies) as imaging rooms become both diagnostic and workload‑management hubs (DeepHealth AI radiology informatics and SmartMammo press release).

The common thread is practical validation - local testing, workflow design and trained staff - so faster AI reads translate into safer, timelier care rather than opaque automation.

Initiative	Partner / Source	Key feature
Miller School radiology framework	University of Miami	IRB pilots, POCAID workflows, 5-category integration
Systemwide AI deployment	UHealth + Aidoc	13 FDA‑cleared algorithms, aiOS for triage & coordination
Radiology informatics & screening	DeepHealth / RadNet	Diagnostic Suite, SmartMammo, population screening gains

“AI is something that is impacting every aspect of our lives.” - Dr. Jean Jose

6) National teacher training push and local intersections (AFT National Academy for AI Instruction) - The American Federation of Teachers has launched a high‑profile National Academy for AI Instruction, backed by a $23 million pledge from Microsoft, OpenAI and Anthropic to deliver free workshops, online courses and hands‑on credentialing from a bricks‑and‑mortar Manhattan hub that will scale nationally; the program targets roughly 400,000 educators over five years and promises to turn teachers into co‑creators who shape classroom tools rather than just users of vendor products (AFT National Academy for AI Instruction press release, Chalkbeat report on the AI teacher training partnership).

The pitch is practical: teachers who use AI already report time savings that free up coaching and intervention - an important “so what?” for districts trying to translate pilot projects into measurable classroom gains - and the academy aims to channel that upside while building commonsense guardrails and educator feedback loops that tech companies can't design alone.

Item	Detail
Total funding	$23 million (Microsoft, OpenAI, Anthropic)
Major pledges	Microsoft $12.5M; OpenAI $8M + $2M technical resources; Anthropic $500k (first year)
Target	~400,000 educators supported over five years; reach 7.2M students
Base	United Federation of Teachers NYC facility (brick-and-mortar)

“AI holds tremendous promise but huge challenges - and it's our job as educators to make sure AI serves our students and society, not the other way around.” - Randi Weingarten

7) Miami tech events spotlight AI - Infobip SHIFT Miami and eMerge Americas developments - Infobip's Shift Miami 2025 doubled down on developers as the AI engine for the city, staging hands‑on workshops, coding sessions and an expo at the Pérez Art Museum from May 5–7 that aimed to move attendees from prompting to building full models and production‑grade tools; the three‑day program foregrounded practical tracks like “AI for Developers” and “Building with LLMs,” and brought a high‑caliber speaker roster (from All Hands AI to Viam and Bloop) to spotlight real‑world LLM optimization, prompt engineering and product deployment (Shift Miami conference overview - Infobip Shift Miami, Infobip press coverage - Shift Miami 2025).

For a city trying to cement hub status, Shift's boutique format - intense developer sessions, networking, and an expo that's explicitly about shipping AI - gave attendees transferable skills and hireable project work rather than vaporware takeaways, a practical “so what?” for startups, hiring managers and engineering teams building Miami's AI talent pipeline.

“AI has become a vital tool for developers, unlocking endless opportunities for innovation,” - Ivan Brezak Brkan

8) University of Miami Law & AI Lab hosts first AI Lawyering competition - the MiLA Lab turned theory into practice with its inaugural "Prompting Legal Solutions" conference and hands‑on AI Lawyering Student Competition, where teams raced to produce due‑diligence documents in a 40‑minute sprint and then build an AI agent to automate client intake, showcasing how legal education can train lawyers to build usable tools, not just critique them; the event capped a semester of momentum that also saw the lab's ClassInsight earn international attention as a finalist in the 2025 AIREA AI in Education competition (University of Miami Law "Prompting Legal Solutions" conference coverage, MiLA Lab shortlisted for the 2025 AIREA AI in Education competition).

Winners included a University of Miami pairing that leveraged prompt engineering and practical workflow design to outpace competitors, a vivid reminder that the next generation of lawyers will need to be fluent in both law and applied AI to deliver faster, fairer client outcomes.

Placement	School	Team / Names
First	University of Miami School of Law	Brhea D'Mello and Riya Goel
Second	Florida International University College of Law	Dax Sotero and Sunny Patel
Third	Nova Southeastern University Shepard Broad College of Law	Nailah Morris, Johnathan Kramer, Tomás Borenszteyn

"It should go without saying that AI can never be justified as an excuse for laziness. AI can never replace your dedication, your immersion, your brainstorming, your turn of phrase, your emotions, your unique and particular genius at connecting to decision makers."

9) Workforce equity challenge - Latinas in Tech findings on AI readiness - Miami's talent pipeline shows momentum, but gaps linger: Latinas in Tech's 2025 Summit and AI Academy spotlighted practical pathways (Super User and Creator tracks) even as organizers warn women adopt AI tools about 25% less often than men, a disparity that risks turning opportunity into a bottleneck unless training scales with hiring pipelines; community programs and philanthropy are stepping in - Google.org's latest $1M grant to the Hispanic Federation's Latino Digital Accelerator will back 20 organizations to expand culturally responsive digital and AI training, building on $5M in prior Google.org support and past efforts that raised participants' average salaries by roughly $10,500 - yet closing the gap means converting conference energy (the Summit draws 1,500+ attendees and 80+ speakers) into measurable placements, portfolio-ready capstones, and employer commitments to hire from those cohorts.

Read more from the Hispanic Federation on the Latino Digital Accelerator and explore Latinas in Tech's AI Academy for program details.

Metric	Value / Source
Latinas in Tech Summit attendance	1,500+ attendees; 80+ speakers (Latinas in Tech 2025 Summit coverage)
AI adoption gap	Women adopt AI tools ~25% less than men (Latinas in Tech)
Hispanic Federation funding	$1M from Google.org; $5M total support since 2019; avg. salary increase ~$10,500 (Hispanic Federation 2025 funding announcement)

“We know that the lack of Latino participation in the tech sector is not because of a lack of interest, it is because of a lack of access to the equipment or quality curriculum that is also culturally responsive.” - Frankie Miranda, President & CEO, Hispanic Federation

10) Startups, funding and layoffs: funding wins and workforce volatility in South Florida AI scene - South Florida's startup story this year has felt bipolar: headline-grabbing raises sit alongside a regional funding slump, and that tension is reshaping hiring plans.

The standout: Cast AI's oversubscribed $108 million Series C to scale its Application Performance Automation platform, expand global offices and better run AI workloads for more than 2,100 customers (Cast AI $108M Series C press release), a raise that local outlets flagged as one of the market's largest rounds of 2025 (South Florida Business Journal coverage of Cast AI raise).

At the same time, broader data show Florida's venture activity has cooled - investors and founders are watching runway and headcount carefully - even as many funded startups are actively hiring and scaling product teams, creating a mixed picture where capital wins don't automatically translate into steady hiring.

The upshot for Miami: big rounds matter, but measuring durable job growth will require follow-through on hiring commitments and sustainable revenue paths, not just press releases.

Company	Round / Amount	Note
Cast AI	Series C - $108M	Oversubscribed; 2,100+ customers; APA category leader
Flow	Round - $100M	Miami metro large deal (Crunchbase roundup)
ONE Amazon	Round - $100M	Crypto/environment-linked funding (Crunchbase roundup)
ThreatLocker	Equity financing - $60M	Orlando cybersecurity deal (Crunchbase roundup)

“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.” - Yuri Frayman, CEO and co‑founder, Cast AI

Conclusion: What to watch next - policy, workforce, and measurable outcomes - Miami's momentum now runs up against hard choices in Tallahassee: Governor DeSantis has promised “strong policies soon,” and state-level action already exists (from HB 919 on AI political ads to SB 1680 on AI CSAM), while the Florida Digital Bill of Rights (SB 262) creates consumer opt-outs and even fines - up to $50,000 per violation - that will force districts and hospitals to document decisions and data flows (see the US AI Law Tracker: Florida - AI Law Center for Florida AI legislation and guidance: US AI Law Tracker: Florida - AI Law Center).

Expect faster agency rulemaking and tighter public review to change deployment timelines; the signal is clear - governance will be measured as closely as models.

That makes workforce readiness and measurable pilots the key short-term bets: validated pilots, tracked outcomes (reduced read times, placement rates, grading-time saved) and certified upskilling programs that teach prompt craft and safe tool use.

Practical, short courses - like Nucamp's 15-week AI Essentials for Work (15-week bootcamp) - are one immediate lever for systems that need demonstrable skill gains, not just rhetoric, as the policy and procurement changes land.

Program	Length	Early Bird Cost	Link
AI Essentials for Work (Nucamp)	15 Weeks	$3,582	Register for AI Essentials for Work (Nucamp)

“I'm not one to say we should just turn over our humanity to AI. It's one thing for technology to enhance the human experience. It's another thing for technology to try to supplant the human experience.” - Gov. Ron DeSantis