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

Tallahassee's tech scene has vaulted to new heights in 2025, with the formation of Pellera Technologies marking a turning point for the city's innovation ecosystem.

A strategic $4 billion merger between Converge Technology Solutions and Mainline Information Systems, backed by H.I.G. Capital's $69 billion portfolio, has established Pellera's headquarters in Tallahassee and solidified the region's role in advanced IT, AI, cloud, and cybersecurity solutions.

Pellera debuted at #32 on the 2025 CRN Solution Provider 500 list, a testament to their sustained industry leadership. As CEO Greg Berard remarked,

“We're combining the bold vision, unmatched talent, innovative solutions, and trusted partnerships of Mainline and Converge to deliver differentiated value and elevate the customer experience... with the goal of becoming the provider of choice for comprehensive technology solutions.”

These developments parallel the emergence of high-growth startups - like Switchboard and Call Simulator Inc. - that are putting Tallahassee on the national map for tech innovation, especially in AI, fintech, and enterprise software.

For a full overview of the city's fast-rising startups, see the comprehensive analysis at Tallahassee's 2025 Startup Rankings; to understand the $4 billion tech merger, explore the Pellera Technologies merger announcement; and for national impact, read about Pellera's rise on the CRN Solution Provider 500 List.

Pellera Technologies has emerged as a Tallahassee-based IT giant following the $4 billion merger of Converge Technology Solutions and Mainline Information Systems, orchestrated by private equity leader H.I.G. Capital.

With a focus spanning cybersecurity, cloud, digital infrastructure, and artificial intelligence (AI), Pellera draws strength from the combined expertise of its founding companies and H.I.G.'s $69 billion capital management portfolio (read the merger announcement).

The new leadership, helmed by CEO Greg Berard and President/COO Jeff Dobbelaere, underscores Pellera's commitment to innovative, outcomes-driven solutions. Tallahassee now serves as the headquarters of this new tech powerhouse poised to accelerate enterprise AI adoption, especially through its deep partnership with NVIDIA and rollout of customizable AI solutions built on NVIDIA Blueprints (explore Pellera's AI initiatives).

As Berard notes,

“With H.I.G.'s support, we're accelerating investments in areas like AI, cybersecurity, hybrid cloud, app modernization, data, and managed services, with the goal of becoming the provider of choice for comprehensive technology solutions.”

For the Tallahassee tech scene and beyond, Pellera's rise signals major new opportunities in next-generation IT - a trend closely watched by industry analysts and a development detailed further in sector and financial reports that spotlight Pellera's pivotal role in shaping a competitive, AI-enabled future.

Restb.ai, a leader in AI-powered computer vision for real estate, has made a significant impact in Tallahassee by bringing its advanced tools to the Capital Area Technology & REALTOR® Services (CATRS) and thousands of local agents.

With this integration, real estate professionals gain access to automated feature tagging, AI-generated property descriptions, and enhanced listing compliance, streamlining workflows and improving listing quality.

As a result of Restb.ai's national expansion, over 800,000 agents across North America now use its tools, which process more than 1 million property photos daily and provide standardized, actionable data to enrich the real estate experience for both agents and homebuyers.

Dominik Pogorzelski, President of MLS at Restb.ai, stated,

“This expansion is another step toward a smarter, more streamlined industry where AI helps agents focus on what they do best: serving home buyers and sellers.”

The momentum is further highlighted by strategic partnerships that deliver AI-enhanced workflows - including notable collaborations with platforms like Ocusell, which have reduced listing creation time by up to 75% and boosted compliance accuracy.

For a breakdown of Restb.ai's reach across the real estate sector, see the table below:

Metric	Figure
MLSs Recently Integrated	10+
Total Agents/Brokers with Access	800,000+
Photos Processed Daily	1,000,000+

For more insights on this deployment, visit the official Restb.ai announcement, learn how Ocusell and Restb.ai are revolutionizing listing management on GlobeNewswire, and explore the broader industry impact at Restb.ai's press release page.

Leon County Schools are facing mounting financial headwinds, reflecting broader statewide and national pressures on public education funding. District projections reveal an anticipated loss of over $3 million as nearly 500 students shift to private schools via Florida's Universal Voucher program, with additional strain from inflation and uncertainty in federal support due to recent large-scale layoffs at the U.S. Department of Education Leon School Board hears budget challenges and more.

The 2025-26 staffing plan has grown to $207 million, including a $6 million increase dedicated to salaries and benefits - a move to retain educators amid a statewide teacher shortage and rising costs Rising pay, benefits drive Leon Schools' $207M staffing plan.

Meanwhile, legislative proposals threaten to cut supplemental funding for AP, IB, and career-technical programs, spurring concern that thousands of students may lose access to pathways for academic advancement Florida lawmakers eye funds for AP, IB, career classes.

Superintendent Rocky Hanna summarized the crisis:

"I don't know that I've ever seen it this bad... Our financial picture is bleak."

Despite these challenges, the district has pledged to minimize classroom impacts, prioritizing direct instruction and student services, and is exploring administrative cuts to weather the turbulence.

A snapshot of the budget context is presented below:

Year	Total Budget	Staffing Costs	Projected Enrollment Loss
2025-26	$666.4 million	$207 million	~500 students

Families and educators are encouraged to stay engaged and advocate for adequate school funding as the fiscal landscape continues to evolve.

Florida State University's Associate Professor Martin Bauer has secured a prestigious $650,000 joint grant from the National Science Foundation and the French National Research Agency to lead the next wave of AI-powered 3D modeling.

This interdisciplinary initiative will transform the creation of 3D models vital to medical imaging, architecture, manufacturing, and computer graphics, by marrying advanced shape analysis with infinite-dimensional differential geometry.

The team aims to improve the accuracy of models used in everything from medical prosthetics to augmented and virtual reality applications, addressing limitations in smartphone-based 3D scanning and pushing the boundaries of text-to-3D technology with AI integration.

Graduate researchers will collaborate internationally, applying new mathematical foundations in topological data analysis and geometric deep learning to real-world challenges like body motion and facial expression analysis.

As Professor Bauer explains,

“The innovations produced in recent years in deep learning, AI, and ML are fueled by mathematics and computer science. We still have a lot to learn about what drives these innovations...”

To see how this project fits into a broader context of healthcare and AI-driven visualization, read about Florida State University's grant for enhanced 3D modeling structures, review the latest healthcare technology trends for 2025 leveraging augmented reality and artificial intelligence, and explore further departmental highlights in Florida State University's College of Arts and Sciences news articles.

In a closely watched legal milestone, a Florida federal judge has ruled that outputs generated by AI chatbots are not entitled to First Amendment protection, allowing a wrongful death lawsuit to proceed against Character Technologies and Google after a 14-year-old's tragic suicide was linked to emotionally charged exchanges with a Character.AI chatbot modeled after a "Game of Thrones" character.

Judge Anne Conway's decision, as detailed in coverage from Courthouse News' coverage of Florida judge ruling on AI chatbot speech protection, marks the first instance a court has ruled AI chat is not protected speech, distinguishing between human intent and algorithmic language generation.

Plaintiffs argue that the chatbot's interactions - described as emotionally and sexually abusive - contributed directly to the teenager's mental decline and subsequent suicide, an event that has spotlighted broader questions of AI safety and accountability.

Despite defendants' arguments that users' rights to receive chatbot messages should warrant protection, Judge Conway was “not prepared” to define chatbot output as speech at this stage.

The case could set a crucial precedent for future AI regulation and the boundaries of constitutional rights, as highlighted in legal analysis from the National Constitution Center's analysis on AI chatbots and First Amendment rights.

Legal experts, such as University of Florida law professor Lyrissa Barnett Lidsky, have called it “a potential test case for broader issues involving AI,” and many advocates emphasize heightened parental caution and industry responsibility.

As attorney Meetali Jain put it,

“The judge's order sends a message that Silicon Valley needs to impose guardrails before launching products.”

For more details on the implications for AI law and industry self-regulation, see the Associated Press report on the case at The Free Speech Center's report on AI chatbot legal case and free speech rights.

Those affected by similar issues are encouraged to call or text the National Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988.

Pellera is joining forces with NVIDIA to supercharge enterprise AI adoption, bringing industry-leading technologies into Tallahassee's flourishing tech scene.

This partnership will enable local businesses and institutions to access NVIDIA's new RTX PRO servers, powered by the advanced Blackwell architecture, which boast up to eight RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell GPUs per server, 96 GB memory per GPU, and up to 5x faster tensor core performance versus previous generations - ideal for AI workloads, scientific computing, and immersive 3D design according to a detailed CRN breakdown.

These high-performance servers are paired with NVIDIA's AI Blueprints and NIM Agent Blueprints, bringing enterprises prebuilt, customizable workflows for generative AI in customer service, drug discovery, and PDF data extraction, all deployable on-premises or in the cloud as highlighted by NVIDIA's global partner announcement.

At Computex 2025, NVIDIA's leadership framed the trend, stating,

“AI is revolutionizing every industry - every company will build or rent AI factories to run their businesses and power the intelligence of their products.”

These innovations dovetail with the release of NVIDIA's open Llama Nemotron models, providing up to 20% higher accuracy and delivering 5x faster inference speeds for deploying agentic AI at enterprise scale as detailed in NVIDIA's GTC announcements.

Local organizations looking to modernize operations with secure, scalable AI can now leverage this alliance, accelerating Tallahassee's emergence as a statewide leader in applied artificial intelligence.

Florida courtrooms are at the forefront of debates about the ethical and legal ramifications of artificial intelligence in the justice system. Recent cases have highlighted both practical uses and serious concerns: in Arizona, a judge delivered a maximum sentence after viewing an AI-generated victim impact statement, raising questions about the authenticity and potential sway of such evidence, and prompting an immediate appeal on grounds of improper influence (AP News article on AI avatars and virtual reality crime scenes in courtrooms).

Meanwhile, Florida judges have explored virtual reality crime scene reconstructions, while another high-profile instance saw a litigant in New York attempt to use an AI-generated avatar as legal counsel - an argument the court swiftly dismissed (U.S. News report on courts grappling with AI in the justice system).

To foster public trust and clarity, the Arizona Supreme Court has pioneered AI-generated avatars delivering court news - a move praised for efficiency but scrutinized for possible depersonalization and risk of misinterpreted authenticity, leading experts like Harvard's Mason Kortz to urge for prominent disclaimers.

As technology advances, ethical dilemmas persist over fairness, resource disparities, and deepfake risks, underscored by concerns that AI-generated evidence could favor well-funded parties or inadvertently distort reality.

As summarized by Farmonaut's analysis, these systems promise accessibility and transparency but must balance innovation with integrity (Farmonaut analysis on AI-powered justice in Arizona).

Florida's Chief Information Security Officer, Jeremy Rodgers, is stepping down from his state role to pursue an opportunity in the private sector, capping off a tenure marked by high-profile responses to cyber threats such as the 2023 court system ransomware attack.

Rodgers joined the Florida Digital Service in January 2022, drawing on more than 20 years of cybersecurity, military, and public administration experience. His extensive background includes service as a U.S. Navy information warfare officer, senior cybersecurity roles at IBM, and two terms as Deputy Mayor of Boca Raton.

State leaders praised his impact, with State CIO James “Jamie” Grant stating,

“The depth and breadth of Jeremy's experience makes him uniquely qualified to lead our cybersecurity team and implement additional innovations across the enterprise.”

Rodgers's exit comes at a moment of volatility for public-sector cybersecurity nationwide, coinciding with a wave of similar resignations at the federal level from senior advisers at CISA, which has raised broader concerns about government cyber defense capacity.

For a comprehensive overview of Rodgers' diverse career and education, see this detailed career summary from GovTech Insider.

State officials have underscored the importance of maintaining momentum in digital security initiatives after Rodgers' departure, as the Florida Digital Service continues to support agencies across protection, data interoperability, and technology innovation - further illustrated in the original FLDS appointment announcement.

For additional context on related national cybersecurity leadership changes, visit BankInfoSecurity's report on CISA adviser resignations.

Miami-Dade County Public Schools have emerged as a national leader in K–12 artificial intelligence education, rapidly transitioning from initial caution to large-scale adoption of generative AI tools in the classroom.

As detailed in The New York Times coverage of Miami's AI classroom rollout, the district now provides Google's Gemini chatbot to over 105,000 high school students, the largest deployment of its kind in any U.S. district, following the training of more than 1,000 educators in AI integration.

Miami's innovative Artificial Intelligence Institute equips teachers and administrators to become AI “champions,” enabling the use of adaptive learning platforms, intelligent grading, and differentiated instruction for diverse learners, as explained by the AI Institute program overview.

The program further boosts engagement through exclusive micro-credentialed cohorts, with more than 450 staff participating in highly curated sessions - a strategy summarized by curriculum specialist Susan Leyva-Bostick:

“We limited the amount of participants with intent, knowing that the first cohort would lead to a second cohort that would lead to a third cohort.”

Meanwhile, Florida's broader educational landscape is evolving, with the University of Florida launching a three-year AI curriculum across 12 counties - including Miami-Dade - to build foundational AI and data science skills statewide, backed by both public and private funding, as reported in The Capitolist.

This coordinated approach positions Miami-Dade not just at the state, but at the national forefront of responsible, inclusive AI learning for the next generation.

Amid a surge of AI experimentation in American newsrooms, new research reveals a persistent distrust from local audiences towards AI-generated journalism. According to a Poynter and University of Minnesota study, nearly half of Americans do not want news produced by generative AI, and another 20% oppose any AI use in newsrooms.

A Cybernews report on Americans rejecting AI-generated news journalism details that 49% of survey respondents rejected AI chatbot tools for news delivery, while 39% would only trust such content if verified by human editors.

Transparency and strong ethical guidelines are in high demand - over 90% of engaged news consumers want clear disclosure when text or images are AI-generated. Meredith Broussard captured the mood at a recent summit:

“Anybody really like using a chatbot? No. I can't stand it. So, guess what? Your users feel like that, too.”

In response to this disconnect, initiatives like Poynter's Talking About AI: Newsroom Toolkit for journalists are equipping journalists to communicate about AI use more transparently and rebuild public trust.

Meanwhile, focus groups cited by Poynter's coverage of news audience feelings on artificial intelligence indicate that skepticism persists partly because many consumers' only exposure to chatbots has been frustrating customer service interactions, not substantive news experiences.

As newsrooms in Tallahassee and beyond navigate this pivotal moment, audience feedback and ethical communication will be key to bridging the trust gap around AI in the news.

Tallahassee's profile as a tech powerhouse reached new heights this month with the formation of Pellera Technologies, the $4 billion IT leader born from H.I.G. Capital's merger of Converge Technology Solutions and Mainline Information Systems.

Headquartered in Tallahassee, Pellera's focus spans cybersecurity, cloud, digital infrastructure, and artificial intelligence, leveraging both depth of technical expertise and strong financial backing from H.I.G.'s $69 billion portfolio Pellera Technologies merger details.

Leadership, with Greg Berard as CEO and Jeff Dobbelaere as President and COO, combines vision and experience, as echoed in Berard's statement:

“We're combining bold vision, unmatched talent, innovative solutions, and trusted partnerships … accelerating investments in areas like AI, cybersecurity, hybrid cloud, app modernization, data, and managed services … becoming the provider of choice for comprehensive technology solutions.”

Pellera's impact was quickly recognized: it secured the #32 spot on the 2025 CRN Solution Provider 500 list, highlighting its agility and innovation in delivering technology for enterprise and mid-market clients CRN Solution Provider 500 recognition.

The merger signals not only enhanced local opportunity but positions Tallahassee as a model for tech-driven growth across Florida. For those inspired by the city's momentum, Nucamp's tailored bootcamps in AI tech entrepreneurship, cybersecurity, and software development, led by CEO Ludo Fourrage, offer practical pathways into the region's thriving tech workforce Nucamp bootcamp financing.

Tallahassee is truly at the heart of Florida's tech transformation - both for established firms and future innovators.