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

Orlando's tech scene is experiencing both challenges and remarkable growth, with its renowned simulation industry facing defense sector disruptions even as health innovation accelerates.

The region's largest-ever healthcare investment was unveiled this month by AdventHealth, which is committing over $1 billion to a new 14-story advanced surgical tower, robotics-assisted procedures, genomics-powered AI for cancer detection, and expanded workforce development - all designed to meet the area's surging health needs (see AdventHealth's transformation announcement).

Meanwhile, Orlando Health and UCF students have joined forces to invent AI-driven surgical tracking technology that improves operating room efficiency and sustainability, exemplifying community-driven innovation and academic collaboration (Orlando Health & UCF's AI partnership).

As the city mobilizes to protect high-value defense jobs, its resilience is evident in the tech sector's expansion - with medical AI breakthroughs and startup dynamism underlining Orlando's rising importance on the national innovation map (Orlando Tech Economy Update).

The future is a blend of reckoning and rapid acceleration for Orlando's tech community.

Orlando Health has made national headlines by expanding its Digestive Health Institute and leading the way in AI-powered early detection of pancreatic cancer, which remains the third leading cause of cancer deaths in the U.S. The center's innovative AI endoscopic ultrasound (AI-EUS) technology, developed in partnership with European researchers, enables the identification of small, otherwise undetectable pancreatic tumors and is currently being validated through clinical trials.

This breakthrough already has life-saving outcomes, as demonstrated by patient Leila Braswell, whose early-stage tumor was found thanks to AI and successfully treated - she is now cancer-free.

The advanced expansion also brings Central Florida's first shockwave lithotripsy for pancreatic stones, a state-of-the-art Gastrointestinal Motility Center, and new clinical recruitment for an organ transplant program.

As Dr. Shyam Varadarajulu notes,

“One of the major problems in diagnosing pancreatic cancer is that it is not diagnosed at an early stage. Artificial intelligence could help doctors find challenging tumors earlier which could lead to a life-saving treatment plan for patients.”

With annual pancreatic cancer incidence increasing by 1% over two decades, Orlando Health's approach aims to boost early-stage detection and survival rates.

For a detailed look at the institute's technology and expansion, visit Orlando Health's expansion announcement, learn about the AI-EUS clinical validation in Orlando Health's AI-EUS research overview, and read more local coverage at ClickOrlando's report on AI in pancreatic cancer detection.

Feature	Details
New Cases/Year (2023)	64,050
Mortality (2023)	>50,000 deaths
Survival Rate (Early Stage)	27%–45%
Survival Rate (Late Stage)	<10%

Central Florida's job market is being reshaped by an infusion of AI and simulation-driven roles, as highlighted by the 2025 Florida Simulation Summit, where experts from Honeywell, IBM, Universal Orlando, and University of Florida showcased innovations transforming industries from transportation to entertainment.

A wave of investment - growing by $50 billion nationally since 2023 - is driving this boom, with AI engineers and consultants landing the top two spots in LinkedIn's “Jobs on the Rise” report for 2025, and AI researchers close behind at number 12.

These trends are fueling local demand for talent skilled in areas such as digital twins, virtual reality, and smart city technology, underscoring Orlando's growing status as a global technology innovation hub.

As Anton Dahbura of Johns Hopkins observes, AI is

“a breakthrough technology with wide applications like chatbots, document summarization, and marketing automation.”

The region's employment landscape reflects both national momentum and local leadership in the sector, as companies rapidly move from AI experiments to practical, large-scale deployments.

For a comprehensive look at how AI-driven innovation is reshaping opportunities nationwide, check out this national industry roundup.

Rank	Job Title
1	Artificial Intelligence Engineer
2	Artificial Intelligence Consultant
12	Artificial Intelligence Researcher

Volusia County Schools has set a new benchmark for campus safety by deploying ZeroEyes AI gun detection technology districtwide, making it one of the first Florida school systems to implement proactive, real-time firearm monitoring across nearly 70 campuses.

ZeroEyes integrates directly with existing security cameras, enabling the system to identify visible firearms and dispatch alerts to first responders and school officials within 3 to 5 seconds - adding a critical, rapid-response layer to a broad security strategy that includes safe school officers, single-point entries, and emergency alert badges.

According to the News-Journal report on Volusia's tech rollout, the $150,000 three-year contract with ZeroEyes, recently piloted and inspired by Daytona Beach Police's successful adoption, leverages military- and law enforcement-trained analysts to ensure accurate threat assessment - alerting only when a confirmed gun is detected, while filtering out non-lethal lookalikes.

“Our goal is to be a trailblazer for school safety in Florida,” said Superintendent Dr. Carmen Balgobin, emphasizing that modernizing security enables students to “focus on learning, building friendships, and preparing for their futures, rather than worrying about their safety”

(official district newsroom release).

The technology's impact is underscored by data from the ZeroEyes Gun Violence Research Center, which found that 40.4% of Florida's gun-related incidents occur on K-12 campuses.

As detailed by FOX 35 Orlando, Volusia's initiative sets a precedent for school safety while highlighting the practical, measured role of AI in public education.

Key Stat	Value
Total Students	60,000+
Total Campuses Covered	~70
Time to Dispatch Alerts	3-5 seconds
K-12 Gun-Related Incidents (FL)	40.4%

AdventHealth's Mission Control recently marked its five-year milestone as the nation's largest healthcare command center, leading a new era of AI-powered, data-driven patient care in Central Florida.

Operating 24/7 across 12,000 square feet and leveraging real-time data refreshed every few seconds, Mission Control coordinates care for over 2,600 patients across 18 emergency departments daily, substantially reducing delays and optimizing outcomes.

The center's AI and predictive analytics enhance hospital capacity management, emergency response, and patient transfers - even rerouting ambulances during surges or disasters, as highlighted by service awards earned during life-critical events.

“We've built a proactive system that helps place patients faster and more efficiently,” said Penny Porteous, executive director of Mission Control. “That's had a direct impact on outcomes.”

The following table illustrates some of Mission Control's measurable impacts over five years:

Metric	Improvement
Time to bed assignment (ER patients)	15 minutes faster
Lateral transfers (due to overcapacity)	600% increase (357 to 2,450+)
Transport times for transfers	15 minutes reduced
Phone call abandonment rate	Reduced from 8% to 3%

Mission Control's AI augments - rather than replaces - caregivers, and its success is now drawing national attention for responsible AI use in healthcare.

Discover more about this transformative model at AdventHealth's five-year Mission Control report, learn how analytics-driven command centers are the new industry standard from this detailed industry analysis, and delve into the AI technology powering whole-person care at AdventHealth's AI deployment overview.

Undergraduate students from the University of Central Florida (UCF) have teamed up with Orlando Health surgeons to create AIMS (Artificial Intelligence for Medical Surgery), an AI-powered system designed to streamline robotic surgery.

Developed as part of a senior design capstone project, AIMS uses real-time camera feeds and computer vision to track surgical staple usage, reducing waste and improving efficiency in the operating room.

This innovation is already being deployed at Orlando Health, allowing surgical teams to better manage supplies and enhance sustainability. According to Dr. Alexis Sanchez, Director of Robotic Surgery at Orlando Health,

“This collaboration is so important. It brings the best minds together: academic innovation paired with clinical experience for the ultimate goal of improving patient care.”

The project, spearheaded by six UCF students and guided by Dr. Sanchez and UCF biomedical engineer Laura Brattain, has the potential for wider application by tracking additional surgical items in the future.

For insight into the technical and educational aspects of the partnership, see the feature on UCF's AI system for robotic surgeries.

Details about the technology and its impact from the healthcare provider's perspective are highlighted in Orlando Health's official announcement, while a broader health technology context can be found in Medical Economics' update on UCF's AI project.

This collaboration sets a promising precedent for ongoing innovation between academic and medical institutions in Orlando.

Orlando's Axiom AI has achieved a significant milestone, winning a $1.4 million defense contract following a standout victory at the U.S. Department of Defense's Artificial Intelligence Advanced Technology Experiment (AI ANTX) against nearly 20 competitors.

The startup, led by U.S. Army veteran Richard Threlkeld and supported by the University of Central Florida's Business Incubation Program, will supply advanced AI agents that analyze naval audio communications and deliver real-time operational support to enhance decision-making and reduce risks for the U.S. Navy.

Notably, Axiom AI's prototype outperformed all rivals, demonstrating half the word error rate and nearly double the accuracy in decision-support tasks, with unique delay estimation capabilities that set it apart.

These contract wins represent a transformative leap for Orlando's tech landscape and national defense. As Threlkeld reflected,

“To be able to provide technology that will protect the Warfighter, it's amazing.”

Explore more about Axiom AI's rise and its motivational founder's journey in How Orlando's Axiom AI Triumphed in a Tech Contest, details of their Navy partnership in Axiom AI's AI Tech Catches Navy's Eye, and a technical breakdown of their solution's defense impact at Axiom AI Wins Million-Dollar Contract for DoD.

Metric	Axiom AI	Closest Competitor
Word Error Rate	Lowest (≈50% of competitor)	Higher
Decision-Support Accuracy	Highest (Nearly double)	Lower
Delay Estimation Feature	Present	Absent

In a landmark ruling that could redefine tech liability and digital free speech, a federal judge in Orlando denied attempts by AI start-up Character.AI and Google to dismiss a wrongful death lawsuit involving the suicide of 14-year-old Sewell Setzer, who reportedly formed an obsessive bond with a chatbot modeled after Daenerys Targaryen from Game of Thrones.

Crucially, Judge Anne Conway ruled that, at this stage, chatbot output generated by large language models (LLMs) is not protected speech under the First Amendment, allowing the case to advance to discovery - a move plaintiffs' attorneys lauded as precedent-setting for the tech industry according to The Washington Post's detailed coverage.

While Character.AI emphasized safety features like specific versions for under-18 users and detection tools for self-harm, and Google stressed its lack of involvement in the chatbot's creation, the judge's order focused on holding tech companies accountable for “foreseeable risks.” As Meetali Jain, co-counsel on the lawsuit, put it:

“I hope this decision really gives pause to Silicon Valley that they can't just go forward doing as they wish without thinking about consequences and foreseeable harm.”

The case brings urgent attention to the intersection of emerging AI, mental health, and corporate responsibility, inviting fresh legal scrutiny into whether digital platforms owe a duty of care to vulnerable users.

For further analysis of what this means for free speech and tort liability, see Eugene Volokh's in-depth commentary at Reason.

To stay updated on the legal battle's progress and its broader implications, check the comprehensive reporting by Courthouse News Service, which notes that depositions and discovery could soon reveal industry-wide practices and internal risk assessments by tech giants.

Orlando is set to lead the AV industry's next chapter as InfoComm 2025, the largest pro AV trade show in North America, comes to the Orange County Convention Center from June 7–13, spotlighting AI-powered collaboration, unified communication, and smart workplace solutions.

Attendees will encounter cutting-edge innovations such as Yealink's AI-driven MeetingBoard Pro and Boom Collaboration's expanded lineup, including the smart ARC Bridge and 4K AI-enabled videobars designed for seamless hybrid work environments.

The show's robust conference schedule highlights dozens of AI-focused sessions, including “AI Tools for Business Productivity in the AV Industry,” “Beyond the Meeting Room: AI's Expanding Role in the Workplace,” and “AI Use Cases from the AV Edge,” reflecting how automation and intelligent systems are rapidly advancing productivity, security, and engagement across business verticals.

As industry leader Karen Castaño noted,

“AI has the potential to help streamline time-consuming tasks for my team and, when used thoughtfully, enhance human experience for our customers. It's not about replacing people - it's about enabling better, faster live engagement.”

Beyond education, the event will host networking forums, hands-on immersive tours, and special gatherings like InfoComm Night at Universal Studios.

For a comprehensive look at keynotes, new product launches, and business insights from the show - including coverage of breakthrough trends in AV-over-IP and AI integration - check Commercial Integrator's InfoComm 2025: All the Latest News.

Explore the latest in workplace connectivity and collaboration with leading innovators by visiting the official InfoComm 2025 event website.

Below is a quick comparison highlighting some of this year's most anticipated exhibitor innovations:

Exhibitor	Key AI-Enhanced Product/Feature	Exhibit Booth
Yealink	MeetingBoard Pro – AI-powered video/collaboration for all meeting spaces	#3861
Boom Collaboration	Smart ARC Bridge, AI auto-framing HALO Videobar (4K/AI tracking)	#3329
Q-SYS (QSC)	Full-stack AV platform with AI, scalable AV control, and cloud management	Guided tours & demos

Strategy World 2025 brought over 1,500 global leaders to Orlando, spotlighting the city as a hub for enterprise innovation at the intersection of AI, analytics, and Bitcoin.

The event unveiled groundbreaking solutions, such as Strategy Mosaic™, a universal intelligence layer enabling seamless, governed access to data across platforms, and Auto 2.0, an AI engine leveraging expert agents for faster, multi-source data insights - even for unstructured information.

The conference's dual focus on revolutionary enterprise analytics and digital asset strategy was clear in both its flagship software launches and its parallel Bitcoin for Corporations event.

Notably, Strategy announced a $2.1 billion at-the-market stock program to further expand its Bitcoin reserves, reinforcing its unique dual role as a provider of industry-leading AI tools and the world's largest Bitcoin Treasury Company (details here).

Conference leaders underscored the importance of this technology leap; Chief Product Officer Saurabh Abhyankar stated,

“With Mosaic we've broken through the biggest barriers to business innovation: data silos, conflicting metrics, runaway data transformation and integration costs, and slow time-to-insight.”

Strategy World 2025 cemented Orlando's role as a leading ecosystem for corporate transformation powered by AI and digital assets.

Volusia County Schools has become the first district in Florida to roll out ZeroEyes' AI-powered gun detection platform across nearly 70 campuses, marking a significant stride in school safety.

This technology leverages existing security cameras and uses AI to identify visible firearms, instantly alerting trained military or law enforcement operators who verify and relay actionable intelligence - including gun type and last known location - to first responders within 3 to 5 seconds.

Superintendent Dr. Carmen Balgobin emphasized the district's pioneering role:

“Our goal is to be a trailblazer for school safety in Florida. After seeing the Daytona Beach Police Department's success with ZeroEyes, we conducted a thorough evaluation... We want our students to focus on learning... rather than worrying about their safety.”

ZeroEyes addresses the alarming statistic that 40.4% of analyzed gun-related incidents in Florida occurred on K-12 campuses, and integrates with a multi-layered security strategy comprising safe school officers, rapid response protocols, and Centegix emergency alert badges.

The technology supplements, rather than replaces, other measures - a key distinction echoed by ZeroEyes COO Rob Huberty: “All good security comes in layers. You need multiple things going on at the same time, so we are really a supplement to that.” For a side-by-side look at security measures and relevant figures, see the table below:

Metric	Details
Schools Covered	Nearly 70 campuses
Students Served	Over 60,000
Employees	8,000+
% of FL K-12 Gun Incidents	40.4%
Detection Speed	3–5 seconds
Annual Weapons Found	80+ (2022-23), 50+ (2024-25, no guns)

Learn more about this districtwide deployment in Volusia County Schools' official announcement, see a detailed summary at The Daytona Beach News-Journal's coverage of Volusia Schools' AI gun detection software, and explore operational insights in WFTV's interview with ZeroEyes leadership on gun detection AI.

Orlando's tech ascent in 2025 reflects remarkable progress and ongoing challenges as the region balances explosive growth with responsible innovation. Over the past eight years, more than 200 business relocations or expansions have contributed to 30,000 new jobs and $3.6 billion in capital investment, propelling the city to national leadership in job, population, and GDP growth, as celebrated by the Orlando Economic Partnership's 8-year economic impact report.

Yet, this momentum brings with it new complexities: as AI and legal tech reshape industries, local firms face ethical, regulatory, and cybersecurity hurdles, highlighted by the surge in AI adoption, incidents of “hallucinated” citations, and targeted cyberattacks on law practices, detailed in the Legal Tech Transformation Unpacked podcast.

Orlando's collaborative approach - described as a “team sport” by OEP President Tim Giuliani - emphasizes sustainable growth, inclusivity, and continued investment in talent.

“Growth of this magnitude could not be achieved without the support and collaboration from innovative companies and visionary local community, government, and elected officials who understand a diverse regional economy is crucial to advancing Broad-based Prosperity® and becoming a global creative capital.”

As local leaders look ahead, their roadmap prioritizes targeted investments, responsible tech education, and efforts to make the region a world-class hub for business and quality of life.

For those ready to join Orlando's tech transformation, seeking upskilling or a new path, accessible programs like Nucamp's bootcamps provide opportunities to build in-demand skills - learn more about Orlando's bright future and how to participate at the Orlando's accelerating tech economy overview.