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

Weekly commentary: St. Petersburg at an Industry 4.0 inflection point - the city is threading policy, infrastructure and talent development into a coherent push for applied AI: a council-approved rollout of fifteen AI-enabled “smart signals” on busy corridors (some carry roughly 40,000 vehicles a day) is pairing video detection and priority sensors for buses and emergency vehicles to improve safety and flow (Fox13 News coverage of St. Pete smart signals and traffic reduction efforts), while the St. Pete Innovation District is amplifying that momentum with AI literacy bootcamps, accelerators and industry partnerships that seed local startups and maritime AI work (St. Pete Innovation District data & technology programming).

To turn these city-scale systems into jobs, practical training matters - short, applied courses like Nucamp's 15‑week AI Essentials for Work teach prompt-writing and workplace AI skills so residents can step into the new roles Industry 4.0 creates (AI Essentials for Work syllabus and registration).

Program	Length	Early-bird Cost	Register
AI Essentials for Work	15 Weeks	$3,582	Enroll in AI Essentials for Work
Solo AI Tech Entrepreneur	30 Weeks	$4,776	Enroll in Solo AI Tech Entrepreneur
Cybersecurity Fundamentals	15 Weeks	$2,124	Enroll in Cybersecurity Fundamentals

"utilized responsibly citywide."

Haddy opens world's largest AI- and robot-powered 3D-printing microfactory in St. Petersburg - the company has transformed a 32,000‑sq‑ft former warehouse north of the EDGE District (251 10th Street N) into a high-throughput, AI-driven production floor that pairs crane‑like robots with CEAD's large‑format Flexbot systems to print everything from chairs and planters to cold‑plunge tubs using recyclable feedstocks (even repurposed fishing nets and plastics).

Industry coverage and CEAD's project notes highlight a dynamic, reconfigurable layout and a machine count/throughput the company says is roughly 16× that of its nearest 3D‑printing competitor, enabling both high‑mix bespoke runs and repeatable higher‑volume parts; early local work includes a fully 3D‑printed coffee bar for Paradeco Coffee Roasters and showroom pieces that signal how on‑demand, circular manufacturing can shorten supply chains while creating new STEAM jobs.

For a deeper look at the technology and partnership behind the build-out, see Haddy's official site and CEAD microfactory technical overview for technical detail and ambitions to scale this distributed model nationwide.

“We will have micro-facilities all over the world.”

St. Petersburg installs 15 AI-enabled “smart signals” to improve traffic safety and flow - the city council approved a $1.16 million FDOT-backed push to replace aging loop detectors with AI-driven video detection at 15 intersections (10 on 66th Street North and 5 on Tyrone Boulevard) so signals can adapt green time in real time, prioritize buses and emergency vehicles, and feed high‑definition streams to a new Traffic Management Center video wall; the grant must be spent by December 31 and the city plans to evaluate the pilot before expanding the approach (St. Pete Catalyst report on AI-enabled smart signals in St. Petersburg).

The systems promise near‑long‑range object detection (the recommendation cites detection at up to 720 feet with 99.5% accuracy) and practical resiliency upgrades like 18‑inch cabinet risers to guard electronics from localized flooding - a small but vivid fix that could keep traffic moving on corridors that see as many as 40,000 vehicles a day (FOX13 News coverage of AI traffic signal pilot in St. Pete), while enabling future connected‑vehicle messaging and faster emergency response.

Item	Detail
Signals	15 total (10 on 66th St, 5 on Tyrone Blvd)
Funding	$1.16 million FDOT grant (must be spent by Dec 31)
Key tech	AI video detection, adaptive signal timing, priority for buses/emergency vehicles
Detection	Recommended: up to 720 ft, ~99.5% accuracy

“The AI object detection is good and getting better – getting smarter as it learns. That's particularly important for detection of elements like pedestrians.”

Jabil selects North Carolina for $500M AI/data-center manufacturing facility - regional economic implications: St. Petersburg–headquartered Jabil's decision to build a roughly $500 million, multi‑year plant in Rowan County (between Charlotte and Winston‑Salem) that will create about 1,181 jobs highlights how incentive packages and existing data‑center ecosystems can be the deciding factors in site selection; North Carolina's approved Job Development Investment Grant and local support tipped the scales even though Jabil's corporate roots remain in Pinellas County.

The move - sited at a 400,000‑sq‑ft former Gilden Yarns facility with phased capital spending reported around $264 million and hiring starting in 2026 - delivers an estimated $73.2 million in annual payroll impact to the region and a projected $3.2 billion economic uplift over the incentive term.

For Tampa Bay, the loss is a cautionary nudge: Florida's low tax burden still helps, but the episode underlines the need for targeted incentives, more centralized workforce development, and expanded power/data‑center capacity if the region wants to capture next‑generation AI supply‑chain manufacturing.

Item	Detail
Total investment	$500 million (multi‑year)
Planned jobs	~1,181 (by 2030)
Capital spending reported	~$264 million
Incentive (JDIG)	Up to $11,251,800 over 12 years
Payroll impact	~$73.2 million annually
Operational target	Mid‑2026 (phased hiring)
Location	Rowan County, North Carolina

“The drive to build AI data centers is only accelerating in the United States… provide additional scale and capabilities for our data center customers, and empower the AI solutions of the future with Jabil's new facility here in Rowan County.”

Optiversal, a St. Pete AI startup that

deploys AI agents that recommend, create and optimize content for top retailers,

closed a $5.5M Series A to scale its e‑commerce content engine and expand its Florida footprint - a round led by Data Point Capital with participation from the Florida Opportunity Fund, according to coverage in the Tampa Bay Business Journal and legal counsel notes from Lowenstein (Tampa Bay Business Journal coverage of Optiversal Series A funding round, Lowenstein announcement on representation in Optiversal Series A).

The company - already powering content for nearly 20% of the nation's largest retailers - will use the capital to grow its local team, beef up sales, and broaden product capabilities that turn shopper search signals into SEO pages, ad copy and landing pages at industrial speed; the practical payoff is simple: faster, cheaper, personalized product pages that can move merchandise off the virtual shelf in hours instead of weeks.

Item	Detail
Latest round	Series A - $5.5M (reported)
Lead investor	Data Point Capital; Florida Opportunity Fund participated
Total funding to date	~$9.8M (per company profiles)
Headquarters	St. Petersburg, FL
Use of funds	Expand Florida footprint, grow sales team, develop new products
Clients	Works with nearly 20% of the nation's largest retailers (reported)

UF Gulf Coast Center for Applied AI brings $30M state investment to Tampa Bay agtech - the University of Florida is building a 40,000‑sq‑ft Center for Applied Artificial Intelligence at the Gulf Coast Research and Education Center in Wimauma, a purpose‑built hub that pairs AI, robotics and education to help solve labor shortages in specialty crops and strengthen Florida's position as an agtech powerhouse; the project is funded with $30 million in state support plus roughly $4.5 million in federal equipment grants, is slated to break ground in November, and targets completion in early 2027, positioning Tampa Bay as a regional center for automation, applied research and workforce development (see the Tampa Bay Business Journal overview of the UF Gulf Coast Center for Applied AI and the St. Pete Catalyst construction brief on the project for details).

Item	Detail
Center	Center for Applied Artificial Intelligence (UF GCREC)
Location	Gulf Coast Research and Education Center, Wimauma, Hillsborough County
State funding	$30 million
Federal equipment grants	$4.5 million
Building size	40,000 sq ft
Groundbreaking	Scheduled for November
Expected completion	January 2027 (tentative)

“We think that it's a national security issue.”

Tampa General and USF Health develop AI tools to detect pain in infants - a NIH‑funded, interdisciplinary team led by USF's Yu Sun and working with Tampa General Hospital is building an AI system that watches facial expressions, body motion, crying and vital signs to deliver continuous, objective pain assessments in the NICU; the two‑year study (supported by an NIH UG3 grant) will record roughly 72 hours of post‑procedure video per baby across partner sites including Stanford and Inova, enrolling about 120 infants to train models that can alert bedside nurses in real time and help reduce unnecessary opioid exposure (USF News: AI detects silent pain in newborns, FOX13: Tampa General and USF develop AI NICU pain monitor).

If successful, the project aims to standardize neonatal pain detection and move to randomized clinical trials that measure real‑world outcomes.

Item	Detail
Grant	NIH UG3 (reported ~$1.28M)
Study length	2 years (UG3 phase)
Enrollment	~120 babies (multi‑site)
Recording window	Baseline + ~72 hours post‑procedure per baby
Partners	Tampa General Hospital, Stanford University Hospital, Inova
Goal	Real‑time neonatal pain alerts to bedside nurses; reduce opioid exposure

“This study will develop a reliable system to detect pain continuously by interpreting the infant's physical movements, facial expressions, heart rate and respiratory rate all together.”

UF-led research warns of SNEACI - cheap, non‑consensual explicit imagery enabled by AI - framing it as a fast‑moving privacy and harms problem that sits squarely inside 2025's ethics and compliance agenda; that alarm rings alongside industry analyses that put AI, data privacy and proactive compliance at the top of the risk list (see Ethisphere's roundup of major E&C headlines and SAI360's 2025 predictions on AI and privacy).

The practical sting is simple and stark: tools that automate image synthesis and scaling can turn intimate harm into an almost industrialized threat, which is why legal scholars, regulators and technologists are bringing the issue to forums like the Ethics & Tech Conference to debate policy responses and guardrails.

For St. Petersburg's AI ecosystem, the takeaway is clear - technical innovation must be matched with urgent ethics, transparency and data‑privacy work if the region is to curb SNEACI's worst impacts and protect victims before harms spread.

Federal AI policy watch: 'Big Beautiful Bill' provision could preempt state AI rules - a striking thread in H.R. 1 would bar states from enforcing their own AI regulations for a decade, pairing that preemption with $500M in federal AI/IT modernization funding; supporters pitch this as national regulatory certainty that lowers compliance friction for cloud and AI vendors, while critics warn it sidelines local protections for privacy and emerging harms.

The tradeoff matters here: state-level modeling suggests restrictive local AI rules can be costly - one analysis estimates Florida could lose about 1.9% of GDP (roughly $38 billion a year) and some 54,100 jobs on average if sub‑federal regulation curbs productivity - making the preemption politically powerful as an economic argument even as it raises ethics and accountability concerns.

Read the reporting and analysis in the Investor's Guide to the Big Beautiful Bill and the Macroeconomic Costs of AI Regulation in Florida for the policy text and the state‑level modeling that show why this provision will be watched closely by governors, municipal tech programs, and local employers across Tampa Bay.

Item	Detail
Preemption	10‑year moratorium on state AI laws (H.R.1; paired with $500M federal AI/IT modernization)
Estimated Florida impact (if restrictive state AI regs)	Average annual GDP loss ~ $38.1B (−1.9%) and ~54,100 jobs (2026–2035)

Dynasty Financial builds a data lake and private-AI features for wealth advisors in St. Pete - Dynasty and Abacus announced a reciprocal minority‑stake exchange in mid‑August that folds Abacus deeper into Dynasty's tech‑enabled wealth platform, the same stack that supports turnkey asset‑management programmes, digital lead generation and investment‑banking services for independent RIAs; coverage from Reuters and FinTech Global outlines the mutual funding structure and strategic alignment (Reuters TradingView report on Dynasty–Abacus minority investment, FinTech Global analysis of Dynasty's investment in Abacus).

The deal plugs Abacus into Dynasty's network - already serving 57 partner firms and more than $105bn in platform assets - and, as company statements note, gives Abacus access to Dynasty's integrated tools and distribution channels, creating a clear pathway for richer advisor data services and private‑AI features delivered behind firm firewalls.

Item	Detail
Partner firms	57
Platform assets	Over $105 billion

“Our investment in Abacus illustrates our confidence in their business model, the strength of their balance sheet, and the commitment of Jay and the team to continue building out their wealth business. We look forward to supporting their strategic growth in the years to come.”

Local AI education and workforce initiatives: SPC, USF, CodeBoxx and more - St. Petersburg College is stacking practical, short-form options designed to put residents into AI-ready roles, launching two new certificates in Spring 2025 that pair ethics with hands‑on skills: a 9‑credit Artificial Intelligence Responsible Use Certificate and an 18‑credit Practitioner Certificate that includes programming courses, machine learning, NLP and computer‑vision components and can feed into SPC's Data Science A.S. program; classes run in 8‑week sessions online or on the St. Petersburg/Gibbs and Clearwater campuses, making them accessible for working adults and career changers (read SPC's SPC newsroom announcement about the new AI certificates and the SPC program page for the Artificial Intelligence Responsible Use Practitioner Certificate).

Certificate	Credits	Focus	Format
SPC News: Artificial Intelligence Responsible Use Certificate (SPC newsroom)	9	Overview, ethics, applications	8‑week sessions; online & on campus
SPC Program: Artificial Intelligence Responsible Use Practitioner Certificate (Data Science program page)	18	ML, NLP, computer vision, programming (transferable courses)	8‑week sessions; online & on campus

"For anyone who's curious about Artificial Intelligence and its role and influence, this is a great starting point. We give you an overall view of the applications and usage of this evolving technology. The greater the awareness, the more comfortable people will be with AI."

Conclusion: What this cluster of stories means for St. Petersburg's tech future - the region is at a pragmatic inflection point where local innovation (AI microfactories, startups and smart‑city pilots) meets large, capital‑intensive supply‑chain decisions: Jabil's planned multi‑year $500 million build for cloud and AI data‑center infrastructure - a project that will create roughly 1,181 jobs and a projected ~$73.2M annual payroll impact - underscores both opportunity and competition, since the new facility landed in Rowan County, N.C. rather than in Pinellas County (Jabil planned $500M investment announcement).

The takeaway is straightforward: capture more of that next‑gen manufacturing value by aligning incentives, grid and training pipelines - and scale human capital now with short, applied programs like Nucamp's 15‑week AI Essentials for Work syllabus and registration so residents can move from civic pilots to paychecks as the region commercializes Industry 4.0.

Item	Detail
Jabil investment	$500 million; ~1,181 jobs; Rowan County (mid‑2026 target)
AI Essentials for Work	15 Weeks; early‑bird $3,582; syllabus & enroll: AI Essentials for Work syllabus & enrollment

“To secure America's future in artificial intelligence, it's crucial that we build the hardware that powers AI innovation right here at home. Domestic manufacturing isn't just an economic priority; it's a matter of national security.”