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

Raleigh, NC continues to make national headlines as a burgeoning Southern tech hub, with Wake County now hosting over 600 startups in fields spanning AI, clean tech, and digital health, and major employers like Red Hat, SAS, and Lenovo establishing deep roots in the region.

Recent investments - including Schneider Electric's $700 million expansion in Research Triangle Park to support AI-driven operations and job growth - are fueling innovation and addressing the ever-growing demand for specialized tech talent, as detailed in this ABC11 report on RTP's AI infrastructure surge.

In a passionate open letter to venture capitalists, local tech leader Steve Rao argues that Raleigh possesses the assets and momentum to rival Silicon Valley, thanks to collaboration among world-class universities, a fast-growing and diversifying workforce, and public-private synergies - yet still needs more dedicated capital for startups to scale, as explored in detail by WRAL TechWire's case for the Triangle as “Silicon Valley of the East”.

Raleigh's commitment to tech sector growth is further reflected in its proposed $1.78 billion FY2026 budget, which bolsters workforce compensation, city infrastructure, and critical investments in cybersecurity without raising taxes, as outlined in the Raleigh city manager's budget recommendations.

Together, these developments reinforce Raleigh's reputation as an inclusive, innovative powerhouse in the Southern tech landscape.

The North Carolina Division of Employment Security (NCDES) has rolled out “Felix,” a generative AI-powered chatbot built in partnership with AWS, to modernize and streamline the process for filing unemployment insurance claims.

Accessible 24/7 within the MyNCUIBenefits system, Felix uses natural language processing to help claimants navigate common questions, required documentation, and employer information - delivering immediate, consistent support that reduces call center volumes and enables staff to focus on higher-skill tasks.

Developed atop AWS GovCloud (US) using advanced services like Amazon Bedrock and Amazon Lex, the solution emphasizes security, compliance, and responsible AI practices, including data masking and guardrails against AI hallucinations, as detailed in the AWS Public Sector coverage of NCDES's generative AI launch.

Impressively, Felix assisted with 2,700 inquiries within its first month, and dashboards now track user behavior to drive ongoing improvements. NCDES Assistant Secretary M. Antwon Keith noted,

“We designed Felix to help streamline the claim filing process, creating a more efficient and accessible system to apply for unemployment benefits. This is an easy-to-use tool that will assist people any time of the day, allowing them to get answers quickly.”

The chatbot leverages a robust architecture for retrieval and multilingual support while adhering to North Carolina's responsible AI guidelines (official NCDES press release on the new online chat system).

To explore Felix's features and how it supports claimants, visit the Felix information page from NCDES.

North Carolina is at the forefront of efforts to counter the rise of AI-generated “deepfakes” with the bipartisan AI Regulatory Reform Act, which recently advanced through the state House.

The bill proposes making it a Class 1 misdemeanor - punishable by up to 120 days in jail - to create or share deepfake content without a person's consent, as well as empowering victims to sue for $1,000 per instance and request takedown orders.

Lawmakers stress the necessity of crafting effective guardrails without dampening the state's tech sector, noting,

“What we don't want to do is over regulate to where North Carolina gets a reputation as a bad place for business developing or selling this technology.”

This legislation arrives as part of a nationwide surge in state-level AI policy efforts, with North Carolina already among 41 states that regulate deepfakes, especially concerning political misinformation and explicit content, as highlighted in the Ballotpedia deepfake legislation tracker.

HB 934's sponsors are working with industry leaders and seeking public feedback to balance innovation and protection, according to reports from WCNC Charlotte's deepfake news coverage and a detailed WRAL legislative summary.

With the bill still moving through committees, North Carolina's debate captures the complex intersection of emerging tech risks and economic opportunity.

The North Carolina Department of Information Technology (NCDIT) has appointed I-Sah Hsieh as its inaugural Artificial Intelligence Governance and Policy Executive, underscoring the state's growing commitment to responsible and secure government use of AI. Hsieh, a seasoned expert with over 25 years in AI ethics and governance, brings experience from SAS and has advised institutions ranging from the United Nations to Fortune 1000 companies.

His new mandate is to oversee and implement the North Carolina Responsible Use of Artificial Intelligence Framework, which sets standards for responsible innovation, privacy, and data protection across state agencies.

As part of this effort, NCDIT has rolled out resources and training on generative AI for public servants, with broader upskilling initiatives underway. NCDIT Secretary Teena Piccione emphasized,

“I-Sah's appointment marks a significant step forward in North Carolina's commitment to harnessing the power of AI for the benefit and protection of our residents, businesses, and visitors. By overseeing governance structures that prioritize ethics and security, I-Sah will play a pivotal role in shaping how the state uses this technology and collaborating with the General Assembly, private industry, and government users.”

For an in-depth look at Hsieh's background and responsibilities, visit the official NCDIT leadership profile for I-Sah Hsieh.

More details about the appointment and its impact on public service can be found in the recent Government Technology writeup on North Carolina's new executive.

To explore specifics about the AI framework and related workforce training, refer to the official NCDIT press release on the AI governance and policy leader.

North Carolina's State Treasurer, Brad Briner, has launched a groundbreaking 12-week pilot program with OpenAI to explore artificial intelligence applications in public finance, marking the state as a leader in responsible government tech innovation.

The initiative leverages OpenAI's ChatGPT to analyze publicly available data, aiming to boost operational efficiency and enhance services for residents - specifically by identifying unclaimed property and scrutinizing financial data from over 1,100 local government units.

Strict safeguards are in place to protect privacy, with AI use restricted to non-sensitive data sets associated with the State and Local Government Finance and Unclaimed Property divisions.

As Treasurer Briner emphasized,

“Innovation, particularly around data and technology, will allow our department to deliver better results for North Carolina”

(North Carolina Treasurer and OpenAI Launch AI Pilot Program).

The collaboration is notable for its no-cost memorandum of understanding, clear boundaries on data access, and commitment to sharing evaluation results after the pilot concludes.

According to OpenAI's Chief Economist Ronnie Chatterji,

“North Carolina can be a leader in AI innovation due to its strong university system and innovative state government,”

highlighting the state's ambition in digital transformation (State Treasurer Rolls Out OpenAI Pilot Program for AI Innovation).

The program's structure and focus on ethical use have also sparked broader conversations among legislators and the public sector about setting effective guardrails for emerging AI technology (Briner Discusses AI Efficiency Improvements in State Treasurer's Office).

This month, the North Carolina Senate advanced the "DAVE Act" (Division of Accountability, Value, and Efficiency) to establish an AI-driven unit within the State Auditor's office, signaling a new era for government audits and efficiency in Raleigh.

Senate Bill 474 - modeled on federal government efficiency efforts - passed on a 29-17 vote and would empower the auditor to use artificial intelligence to review state agency spending, highlight inefficiencies, and recommend which offices or job positions might be eliminated.

While Republican leaders tout the legislation as a necessary, data-driven upgrade to ensure taxpayer dollars are wisely spent, Democrats raise transparency and workforce concerns, noting 20-25% state job vacancy rates and parallels with federal job cuts under similar initiatives.

Auditor Dave Boliek emphasized,

“The fact is, we've got to start somewhere in the state of North Carolina using A.I. Because it's coming. There's no better place than the state auditor's office to get started with that.”

The DAVE Act's key provisions include requiring annual agency efficiency reports, leveraging AI to analyze fiscal performance, and adding a sunset clause after the 2028 general election.

The debate underscores a pivotal moment for North Carolina, balancing cutting-edge technology with public sector stability and trust. For a comprehensive look at the legislative process and reactions, read the NC Newsline detailed Senate summary and quotes on the DAVE Act, explore the bill's AI audit structure at Government Technology's North Carolina state efficiency bill policy overview, and review the partisan debate and workforce criticism reported by Carolina Journal's coverage of the government efficiency bill passing NC State Senate.

This year's Red Hat Summit 2025 reinforced Raleigh's influence on open-source enterprise innovation, spotlighting rapid advancements in AI and virtualization.

A headline announcement was the launch of the Red Hat AI Inference Server, which leverages the vLLM project and Neural Magic to support any generative AI model on any accelerator across hybrid cloud environments, enabling fast, scalable AI deployments for organizations of all sizes.

The summit revealed that OpenShift Virtualization adoption surged, with customer growth up 178% and managed VMs rising by 250% in the past year, offering flexible migration paths and unified VM/container management.

As Red Hat doubled down on open AI standards and interoperability, OpenShift 4.18 introduced enhancements such as persistent memory support and advanced live migration, positioning it as a unified control plane for both containers and virtual machines (Forrester: Red Hat Summit 2025 Analysis).

The summit also featured collaborations with Microsoft, Google, AMD, Meta, and NVIDIA, driving new agentic AI frameworks and cloud integrations. As summarized by Red Hat CEO Matt Hicks,

“AI can unlock human and business potential the same way open source did.”

The trajectory is clear: Red Hat's AI and virtualization platforms are democratizing next-generation technology and providing sustainable modernization strategies for enterprises in North Carolina and beyond.

For a full recap of product launches, customer stories, and hybrid cloud partnerships, visit the official Red Hat Summit 2025 announcement roundup.

May 2025 marked a pivotal moment for Raleigh and the entire state as Governor Josh Stein proclaimed May 11 as “Technology Day,” underscoring North Carolina's prominence as an innovation hub with the ninth-largest technology workforce in the U.S. and over 300,000 tech professionals employed statewide.

At the celebratory event presented by NC Tech and the North Carolina Economic Development Association, leaders from academia and industry gathered at the Lenovo Center in Raleigh to discuss AI's expanding role and highlight the state's growing leadership in artificial intelligence.

Notably, women now represent more than one-third of North Carolina's tech workforce, making the state a national leader in gender diversity. Governor Stein's proclamation praised the robust ecosystem supported by public and private universities and community colleges.

The panel, moderated by State CIO Teena Piccione, emphasized public-private collaboration, while events like Allyship in Action and initiatives such as the Tech Day at the Legislature further demonstrate North Carolina's commitment to workforce diversity, equity, and continuous upskilling for the next generation of tech leaders.

As Piccione remarked,

“I want to have this event next year and announce that North Carolina is the home to the number one technology workforce in the U.S.”

This collaborative vision is propelling North Carolina toward even greater economic impact and inclusive growth in technology leadership.

This month, North Carolina's innovative AI landscape takes a leap forward as North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (N.C. A&T) joins the NCShare partnership, a groundbreaking statewide initiative led by Duke University.

NCShare's mission is to democratize access to high-performance computing and modern GPUs, enabling even smaller and minority-serving campuses to run advanced research in areas like deepfakes, cyber defense, and large-scale AI training.

As Dr. Kaushik Roy, chair of A&T's computer science department, explains,

“You need a lot of resources, especially when the researchers are working on millions of images and large video data files... A solution is a graphics processing unit, or GPU-based AI machines, to scale up our capability and improve our computing power and processing very quickly.”

In parallel, A&T's $25 million Google-led initiative aims to boost AI literacy for 15,000 North Carolina youth and 2,000 adults statewide by May 2026, spreading equitable tech education via its 4-H programs.

The impact is further amplified by partnerships with NVIDIA, Microsoft, and SAS to advance precision agriculture and applied machine learning. Notably, A&T also becomes the first public university in the state to offer an interdisciplinary AI bachelor's degree - on campus and online - starting in fall 2025, cementing its role at the forefront of inclusive AI education.

For more, explore details of the NCShare-A&T partnership, the new AI degree program, and opportunities for hands-on research, all shaping North Carolina's statewide AI capacity.

Universities in North Carolina are pushing the boundaries of artificial intelligence in education, ethics, and practical application, with Elon University at the forefront.

Elon's recent AI Pedagogy Challenge spotlighted five outstanding faculty-led projects - from AI-assisted civil discourse, classroom assessment design, and psychological research, to AI-enhanced dance learning and film production simulations - that collectively reflect a robust commitment to purposeful and ethical integration of AI. As Mustafa Akben, Director of AI Integration, noted,

“The AI Pedagogy Challenge did more than just inspire ideas; it helped us make real tools, like our new AI Toolbox on the Elon AI website. This collection now has over 100 custom chatbots and resources... making AI easy to use and helpful for everyone on campus including faculty, staff, and students.”

Complementing these hands-on efforts is Elon's collaboration with the American Association of Colleges and Universities on the “Student Guide to Artificial Intelligence,” a globally accessed, free digital resource designed to boost AI literacy, promote ethical AI usage, and prepare students for careers in an AI-driven landscape.

Across town, North Carolina State University is scaling impact statewide through research, faculty development, and equitable access, evidenced by interdisciplinary initiatives aimed at integrating AI into K-12 and workforce development curricula (see NC State's AI in Education programs).

These university-led advances not only foster innovation but provide structure and resources for educators and students to responsibly harness AI in real-world scenarios.

University Initiative	Focus	Notable Outcomes
Elon AI Pedagogy Challenge	Ethical AI in teaching, hands-on projects	AI Toolbox, 5 prize-winning projects
Student Guide to Artificial Intelligence	AI literacy, resources, career readiness	Accessed in 139 countries, customizable for institutions
NC State AI in Education	Curriculum integration, educator training	Research, inclusivity, K-12 to workforce pathways

North Carolina's healthcare innovation ecosystem is attracting national recognition as AI-powered startups and established providers transform patient care, operational efficiency, and health outcomes.

Highlights include Raleigh-based companies like Well, which leverages a proprietary AI health engine to deliver individualized health coaching, and Durham's Restor3d, known for its 3D-printed medical implants that use advanced data and modeling for improved patient fit and integration according to The Tech Tribune's list of top NC health tech startups.

Major insurers are also capitalizing on AI: Blue Cross NC deploys machine learning tools to drive significant gains in medication adherence, resource allocation, and fraud detection, seeing a 1.9x higher adherence rate through personalized interventions and real-time analytics as profiled by Emerj Artificial Intelligence Research.

Health systems such as Duke Health and UNC Health have established governance and bias oversight for clinical AI, while the state legislature considers first-in-the-nation guardrails for the responsible use of AI in clinical decisions.

As Christina Silcox of Duke-Margolis Institute notes:

Not only do I truly believe that AI can really improve health care and health, I also believe we need AI to improve health care and improve health.

In parallel, the sector's momentum is buoyed by robust funding rounds for digital health startups nationwide and in North Carolina, supporting the development of tools that predict health risks, optimize workflows, and expand remote care as highlighted by MedCity News.

This confluence of technology leadership, investment, and proactive oversight cements North Carolina's position at the forefront of healthcare AI innovation.

Raleigh, NC's technology ecosystem is embracing an inclusive and innovative future, anchored by community-driven initiatives and ethical leadership in artificial intelligence.

From the establishment of NC State University's Center for AI in Society and Ethics, which advances interdisciplinary research and public engagement on AI ethics, to the 2025 Online Learning Innovations Summit focused on accessible digital education, the region is uniting educators, technologists, and policymakers to set national standards for responsible tech adoption.

A clear focus on human-centered design and diversity echoes throughout the region's AI leadership, highlighted by student-led conferences tackling bias in AI-powered healthcare and local school districts like Wake County proactively redefining AI policy for equitable classroom integration.

As articulated at the Minority Health Conference:

“You always need a human in the loop, particularly in health care,”

ensuring algorithms enhance rather than undermine fairness and inclusion.

These efforts are reinforced by forward-thinking legal and business communities committed to transparent AI use, continuous workforce upskilling, and societal trust in emerging technologies.

For those inspired to carve a path in this dynamic landscape, Nucamp's Solo AI Tech Entrepreneur bootcamp provides rigorous, accessible training - and a range of scholarships - so all North Carolinians can join and help shape Raleigh's innovative future.

Initiative	Focus	Key Outcome
NC State CASE	AI Ethics Research & Public Engagement	Interdisciplinary graduate training and partnerships
Wake County Schools	AI Policy in Education	Equitable, transparent AI usage guidelines
Minority Health Conference	Bias in AI-Powered Healthcare	Building DEI-driven AI strategies

Raleigh's ongoing investments in collaborative, ethical, and accessible AI signal both opportunity and responsibility - for innovators, educators, and every engaged community member.

For further reading, see the in-depth exploration of AI, DEI, and healthcare from North Carolina Health News.