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

St. Petersburg's tech landscape is energizing this summer with a surge of innovation and competitive growth. The newly launched Coastal Community Fund, led by seasoned investors Ashby Green and Kim Vogel, aims to bolster local startups like the data analytics firm Spontivly by increasing capital access and emphasizing local workforce development.

Concurrently, Tampa Bay's rising startup ecosystem showcased its dynamism through the Founders Live pitch event at The Birchwood, featuring early-stage entrepreneurs in AI, cybersecurity, and biotech, further positioning the area among the top five U.S. startup cities, with over 500 startups generating 5,200 jobs and raising $650 million in 2025 alone.

Complementing venture capital activity, Tampa Bay-based AI startup Iteright secured $1.3 million in a pre-seed round to advance AI-driven business decision-making tools.

These developments underscore growing community collaboration, as highlighted by Kim Vogel's call for unified support among accelerators, chambers, and academic institutions to sustain entrepreneurial momentum.

As St. Petersburg thrives, education pathways like Nucamp's AI Essentials for Work and Solo AI Tech Entrepreneur bootcamps provide accessible tech training, meeting regional demand for skilled talent.

Together, these initiatives create a vibrant ecosystem where innovation, investment, and workforce development converge for sustained growth in St. Petersburg's competitive tech scene.

Learn more about the Coastal Community Fund's launch, Founders Live pitch event, and Iteright's pre-seed funding.

Haddy has inaugurated the world's largest AI-powered 3D printing microfactory in St. Petersburg, Florida, marking a significant milestone in American manufacturing reindustrialization.

Located at 251 10th Street North near the EDGE District, the 32,000-square-foot facility employs eight advanced Flexbot robots that utilize artificial intelligence and machine learning to produce sustainable, high-quality furniture and industrial components from recycled materials such as repurposed fishing nets and plastics.

CEO Jay Rogers, a Marine Corps veteran and former founder of Local Motors, emphasizes the shift toward proximate manufacturing, highlighting how Haddy's model enables on-demand, customizable, and tariff-free production that addresses supply chain challenges while fostering local skilled jobs in engineering and design.

The microfactory boasts 16 times the production capacity of its nearest competitor and features a hybrid additive-subtractive process developed in partnership with Netherlands-based CEAD and Siemens AG. Initially focusing on design-forward furniture, Haddy is expanding into defense, disaster recovery, and modular construction sectors.

Mayor Ken Welch praised the facility for exemplifying St. Pete's spirit of innovation and its potential economic impact. The factory's vision supports a future of interconnected microfactories worldwide that leverage AI and robotics for agile, sustainable manufacturing.

For more on Haddy's groundbreaking approach and updates, visit Haddy's official website, explore the detailed St. Petersburg news coverage, or read industry insights from the Tampa Bay Times report.

St. Petersburg is advancing traffic management with the installation of 15 AI-enabled "smart signals" funded by a $1.16 million Florida Department of Transportation grant, targeting high-traffic corridors along 66th Street North and Tyrone Boulevard where approximately 40,000 vehicles travel daily.

These adaptive signals use real-time video detection with 99.5% object recognition accuracy up to 720 feet in all weather, replacing outdated loop detection systems.

Key features include dynamic light timing that extends green lights for heavier traffic flows, priority preemption for emergency and transit vehicles, and advanced communication through fiber optics and cellular vehicle-to-everything technology, which also alerts drivers to upcoming red lights, flooding, and pedestrian presence.

The project incorporates flood-protected signal cabinets, a new video wall at the Traffic Management Center for live monitoring, and system fail-safes reverting to traditional timing during outages.

Officials anticipate completion by December 31, 2025, with plans to evaluate success before citywide expansion. Transportation Manager Cheryl Stacks emphasized,

“It's able to communicate a lot of messages to the driver in a way that's not distracting to them, but it does provide that extra awareness to make things smarter and safer.”

The initiative reflects St. Petersburg's broader commitment to integrating innovative AI solutions for safer, more efficient urban infrastructure.

For detailed insights, visit the comprehensive coverage by St. Pete Catalyst on AI Smart Signals, the practical overview at FOX 13 News St. Pete AI Traffic Update, and the full project report in Nucamp's April 2025 Tech News Edition.

In a significant development for the Southeast tech manufacturing landscape, St. Petersburg-headquartered Jabil Inc. has chosen Rowan County, North Carolina, over Florida to establish a $500 million advanced manufacturing facility focused on supporting cloud and AI data center infrastructure.

This strategic investment, expected to begin operations by mid-2026, will create approximately 1,181 new jobs with a minimum average wage of around $62,000, providing a substantial annual payroll impact of over $73 million.

North Carolina secured the project by offering more than $21 million in state and local incentives, including an $11.3 million Job Development Investment Grant spanning 12 years, which Florida, having cut several tax incentive programs, was unable to match.

The facility occupies a 400,000-square-foot site in Granite Industrial Park and marks Jabil's fourth North Carolina location, adding to its existing footprint of 30 U.S. sites.

Executive Vice President Matt Crowley emphasized the accelerating demand for AI hardware and the importance of domestic manufacturing in empowering future AI solutions:

“The drive to build AI data centers is only accelerating in the United States,”

he stated.

This expansion aligns with Jabil's broader strategy to grow its capabilities in AI hardware production, following recent investments including the acquisition of Mikros Technologies.

While Florida remains a competitive environment for business with strong tech sectors in Tampa Bay and significant venture capital activity - such as ReliaQuest's $3.4 billion valuation and Foot Locker's new St. Petersburg headquarters - the loss of Jabil's plant highlights the challenges posed by limited state incentives and higher operational costs.

Businesses and policymakers in Florida are now focusing on bolstering workforce training and attracting more AI data center projects to remain competitive in this rapidly evolving industry.

For further details on Jabil's investment, visit their official Jabil investor announcement, the North Carolina Department of Commerce press release, and a detailed analysis from the Tampa Bay Times on the regional impact.

St. Petersburg-based AI startup Optiversal successfully closed a $5.5 million Series A funding round led by Bling Capital, marking a significant milestone in its mission to expand its AI-powered e-commerce content platform.

Founded in 2022 and already serving nearly 20% of the nation's largest retailers, Optiversal's proprietary technology generates highly personalized product descriptions, SEO pages, and marketing content by analyzing shopper behavior with AI agents.

The funds will accelerate product development, increase the company's Florida footprint, and expand its sales team to meet growing demand. With a total of $9.8 million raised over two rounds, Optiversal stands out as a leader in retail AI innovation, delivering scalable, brand-consistent content solutions that have generated over $125 million in client revenue in 2024 alone.

As Optiversal pushes toward broader market reach and enhanced automation, investors emphasize the startup's focus on disrupting large markets through capital-efficient growth.

The company's expansion plans in St. Petersburg align with the city's rising profile as a hub for AI-driven technology, reinforcing the city's vibrant ecosystem of innovation and digital commerce transformation.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has expressed strong concerns over the federal “Big Beautiful Bill,” which initially included a provision that would have barred states from enforcing their own AI regulations for ten years.

Although this restrictive clause was removed before final passage, DeSantis highlighted the need for state-level authority to address AI's risks, emphasizing that “we're not going to be able to police every aspect of it, right? But there are going to be certain things where we're going to need to provide protections for people” (WTSP VERIFY news on AI legislation).

He has called AI the “biggest issue facing society and the economy today,” warning of major job disruptions, especially in white-collar fields such as law and claims processing, and advocates for cautious, state-specific policy frameworks with “guardrails” to prevent undue influence by large tech corporations (Florida Phoenix coverage of DeSantis AI approach).

While Florida has enacted laws like Brooke's Law targeting nonconsensual AI-generated sexual images and strengthened penalties for harmful AI usage, DeSantis continues to push for comprehensive AI regulation within the state, planning to roll out a dedicated AI approach in the coming months (1033 WVYB report on AI regulation in Florida).

This local stance contrasts with federal moves toward a uniform AI standard, raising ongoing discussions about federalism and state autonomy in AI governance.

The University of South Florida (USF) and Tampa General Hospital (TGH) are pioneering an AI-driven system designed to detect pain in newborns who are unable to cry, particularly those in Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICUs).

Funded by a $1.2 million grant from the National Institutes of Health, this innovative technology analyzes infants' physical movements, facial expressions, heart rate, and respiratory rate using non-invasive sensors and cameras to provide continuous, objective pain monitoring.

This approach aims to assist nurses by delivering real-time alerts, enabling timely pain management and reducing reliance on opioids. As Dr. Thao “Tina” Ho of USF notes,

“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. This will allow the infant's bedside nurses to respond timely to their pain to optimize their comfort and minimize medication exposure.”

Data is currently collected from TGH, Stanford University Hospital, and Inova Hospital NICUs to train the AI system, which aspires to revolutionize neonatal care by standardizing pain assessment across hospitals nationwide.

For deeper insight into this transformative project, see the detailed reports from the University of South Florida News on AI detecting silent pain in newborns, FOX13 Tampa Bay coverage of AI monitoring NICU baby pain, and the NIH HEAL Initiative 2025 Annual Report on national pain management funding detailing national funding efforts supporting advancements in pain management.

Dynasty Financial Partners, headquartered in St. Petersburg, Florida, has developed an advanced AI-driven data lake platform designed to unify and securely manage sensitive client information for its network of over 500 financial advisors and more than $110 billion in assets under management.

Led by CTO Leslie Norman, the data lake aggregates key datasets such as CRM, financial planning, performance reporting, and custody data, enabling bespoke data analytics and business intelligence tools accessible via the Dynasty Desktop - a unified interface providing a “single pane of glass” to advisors.

The platform incorporates proprietary AI applications like Private AI Chat, which operate on a private instance to safeguard personally identifiable information, enhancing advisor efficiency through curated insights and interaction preparation.

Dynasty's technology strategy emphasizes purpose-driven innovation over technology for its own sake, investing heavily in clean, robust data infrastructure to support predictive analytics, risk management, and compliance automation.

The firm actively collaborates with technology partners and maintains a Technology Advisory Board to refine its offerings, reflecting a broader trend in wealth management towards integrated AI solutions that serve advisor productivity and client service needs.

Further extending its footprint, Dynasty recently added Goldman Sachs Custody Solutions as a preferred custodian, enhancing custodial, trading, and asset management services integrated within its turnkey asset management platform.

For a comprehensive view on Dynasty's platform evolution and its AI-powered data lake, visit Financial Planning's detailed report on Dynasty's data lake and Nucamp's coverage of St. Petersburg tech innovations.

To learn more about Dynasty's expanded custodial partnerships, see InvestmentNews' report on Dynasty and Goldman Sachs collaboration.

The Dalí Museum in St. Petersburg has launched the innovative AI-powered "Dial Dalí" experience, allowing people across the U.S. to engage in surreal, live conversations with an AI recreation of the Spanish surrealist artist Salvador Dalí via phone at 772-ASK-DALÍ (772-275-3254).

Developed in partnership with Goodby Silverstein & Partners (GS&P) and leveraging advanced technologies such as OpenAI's GPT-4 and ElevenLabs' real-time voice synthesis, this experience faithfully captures Dalí's wit, voice, and eccentric imagination, based on his writings and archival audio.

Launched to coincide with Dalí's 121st birthday in May 2025, the AI system dynamically generates poetic, unpredictable answers reflecting Dalí's persona, inviting callers to explore his thoughts on art, dreams, and creativity in an immersive manner that bridges AI and cultural heritage.

The project follows the museum's successful "Ask Dalí" installation featuring Dalí's iconic Lobster Telephone and extends access nationally, showcasing how AI and extended reality (XR) are redefining immersive art at St. Petersburg's cultural hub.

As GS&P co-founder Jeff Goodby remarked,

“Dalí's lobster phone shows that the telephone has always been a surrealist object. Now, we've made it literal.”

For deeper insights on this groundbreaking cultural fusion, see coverage by Forbes article on the Dalí Museum's AI-powered phone experience and detailed analysis on The VR Collective's coverage of AI and immersive art at the Dalí Museum.

St. Petersburg is exploring advanced AI-driven adaptive traffic signal systems that show significant early promise in reducing delays and enhancing road safety.

Research from Microsoft and Colorado Technical University highlights an AI approach utilizing curriculum learning to optimize traffic signals, which effectively lowers congestion and minimizes conflicts between vehicles and vulnerable road users by dynamically adapting to real-time conditions (Analyzing the Impact of AI-Driven Traffic Signal Control).

Pilot projects in cities like Hangzhou demonstrate over 15% reductions in trip delays, emphasizing the potential of big-data empowered signal control to improve urban mobility and reduce carbon emissions (Big-data Empowered Traffic Signal Control).

Technologies like Omnisight's FusionSensor further integrate AI with multimodal sensor data to adjust signal timing responsively, cutting travel times by 25% and reducing idling by 40%, while enhancing safety by prioritizing pedestrian and emergency routes (How AI and Smart Sensors Enhance Traffic Calming Measures).

Together, these innovations position St. Petersburg to leverage AI-powered traffic management that not only improves flow and reduces driver frustration but also advances environmental sustainability and public safety.

Florida-based startup CodeBoxx earned national acclaim by winning the 2025 "Chatbot Solution of the Year" award at the prestigious RetailTech Breakthrough Awards for its AI-powered GEM Chatbot developed for GoodwillFinds.

This recognition honors CodeBoxx's innovative "Business-First" Agentic AI approach, which leverages OpenAI's Large Language Models combined with proprietary data and tool integrations to deliver an omnichannel chatbot experience that resolves 68% of inquiries without human intervention.

According to founder Nicolas Genest, the award underscores the team's commitment to pushing the boundaries of conversational AI by prioritizing business outcomes and continuous performance optimization.

The RetailTech Breakthrough Awards, which featured thousands of global nominations in 2025, spotlight cutting-edge retail technology companies transforming customer engagement and operational efficiency.

Alongside CodeBoxx, winners spanned diverse categories from store management solutions to AI innovations, highlighting the growing influence of AI-driven tools in retail.

CodeBoxx, headquartered in downtown St. Petersburg, is not only advancing chatbot technology but also reshaping tech education by blending software training with leadership development, setting it apart in a competitive market.

For deeper insight into CodeBoxx's methodology and the four foundational pillars for building award-winning AI conversational agents - purposeful briefing, data ingestion, actionable integration, and continuous behavior monitoring - read their comprehensive Agentic AI Blueprint.

More information about the RetailTech Breakthrough Awards and their mission to recognize innovation across retail technology sectors can be found at the official RetailTech Breakthrough website.

This accolade solidifies St. Petersburg's role as a burgeoning hub for AI innovation, with CodeBoxx at the forefront of transforming customer experience through intelligent automation.

St. Petersburg solidifies its position as a burgeoning hub for AI and tech innovation with a projected 28,000 tech jobs by 2026 and an impressive average salary nearing $88,000, reflecting an ecosystem fueled by thriving startups and established industry leaders such as TechData, Jabil, and Bloomin' Brands.

The city's Innovation District, encompassing less than 1% of the area but accounting for over 7% of all jobs, is rapidly evolving with plans for smart mobility, sustainable development, and expanded facilities like the Maritime and Defense Technology Hub.

Events like Tech X-change @ The Hub foster collaboration among entrepreneurs and tech enthusiasts, while incubators such as the Tampa Bay Innovation Center provide critical resources and mentorship to startups.

Complementing these advances, educational initiatives including Nucamp's practical AI and cybersecurity bootcamps equip the workforce with essential skills to meet rapidly emerging demands across AI, cloud computing, cybersecurity, and software development.

Together, these factors contribute to a dynamic, inclusive tech landscape where innovation thrives, supported by community, infrastructure, and a forward-looking master plan aimed at positioning St. Petersburg as a global leader in technology and entrepreneurship.

Discover how you can join this momentum at Nucamp's tailored programs designed to launch and accelerate careers in tech and AI at Nucamp AI Essentials for Work.