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

In 2025, Toledo is accelerating as a Midwest powerhouse for AI and tech, with major developments driving regional transformation. The city played host to the influential Northwest Ohio AI Summit, where educators and leaders collaborated to deepen AI literacy and prepare K-12 students for the future workforce (Northwest Ohio AI Summit details).

On the economic front, Toledo's Vibrancy Initiative is catalyzing $14.7 million in new investment across 24 neighborhood projects, focusing on job creation, blight reduction, and rejuvenation of historic business corridors; since its inception, the initiative has leveraged over $100 million in private sector contributions.

As Mayor Kapszukiewicz emphasized,

“These 24 projects are more than just numbers - they represent renewed hope for our neighborhoods and a clear sign that Toledo's resurgence is well underway.”

Strategic investments in tech, from increased IT staffing to infrastructure upgrades, are mirrored in the city's robust $365 million budget, underscoring priorities in safety, youth programs, and community development (Toledo 2025 city budget overview).

These moves position Toledo to capitalize on Ohio's record tech investments and statewide AI momentum, firmly establishing the region as a hub for innovation (Ohio tech news and AI investments updates).

Meta is making a major investment in Northwest Ohio with an $800 million, 715,000-square-foot AI-optimized data center in Middleton Township, Wood County - a move set to bolster the region's technology profile and workforce.

Expected to be fully operational by 2027, the Bowling Green Data Center will bring around 100 high-quality permanent tech jobs (average salary over $80,000) and employ over 1,000 construction workers at project peak, with hiring information to be posted at Meta Careers.

The facility is Meta's 28th globally and second in Ohio, designed to run exclusively on clean, renewable energy, and expected to match all of its electricity use with green sources.

Community impact will be significant thanks to a grant program funneling nearly $1 million annually to local schools and investments supporting nonprofits and STEAM education.

As Ohio Governor Mike DeWine put it,

“Ohio is shaping the future of the data-driven digital economy, and we are pleased that Meta chose Wood County for this new investment. Northwest Ohio's talent pipeline and strategic location will create an environment where Meta, and the other technology companies they attract, can thrive while bringing new opportunities for our regional workforce and their families.”

The project has already broken ground, with local infrastructure upgrades underway and a strong emphasis on sourcing labor and materials regionally.

See the roundup of facts below for a quick overview:

Facility Size	Investment	Permanent Jobs	Construction Jobs (Peak)	Completion	Energy Source
715,000 sq. ft.	$800 million	100+	1,000+	2027	100% renewable

Learn more about the regional impact and Meta's community commitments in BG Independent Media's detailed coverage, and explore project background and infrastructure specifics in the Toledo Free Press report.

Bowling Green State University (BGSU) is taking a national lead in workforce-ready tech education with the launch of its Bachelor of Science in “AI + X,” a pioneering program pairing core artificial intelligence training with a choice of six disciplines - computer science, mathematics, physics, history, journalism, or public relations.

Approved by the university's Board of Trustees for a planned Fall 2025 debut (pending state approval), the program enables students to shape their AI expertise for diverse domains, supported by specialized courses in Python, machine learning, AI ethics, and domain-specific applications.

This approach, as highlighted by BGSU President Rodney K. Rogers, “will empower students to design their degree around a specific focus to drive innovation in workforce and industry, leading to great careers and great lives.” The program also integrates experiential learning through a strategic partnership with Ohio-based firms Kata Solution LLC and IoTco, linking students to hands-on projects in advanced manufacturing and Industry 4.0 technologies.

Dr. JK Jake Lee, chair of computer science at BGSU, emphasized, “students will gain both technical depth and cross-disciplinary perspective needed to lead in a rapidly evolving technological landscape” (BGSU's first in nation AI + X degree).

Recognizing strong AI labor market growth - where AI job postings are expanding 3.5 times faster than average - BGSU aims to address regional tech talent gaps, particularly as major investments like Meta's $800 million Bowling Green Data Center ramp up local demand (BGSU Trustees approve three new degrees including AI + X program).

For details on how this curriculum uniquely blends AI with domain knowledge and hands-on industry engagement, see the program announcement at Bowling Green State's AI + X degree announcement on EdScoop.

The University of Toledo Foundation is leading the way in nonprofit innovation by introducing Doug Reynolds, the first AI-powered virtual engagement officer in Ohio, as part of a strategic partnership with Givzey, an industry leader in digital fundraising technology.

Doug Reynolds will serve as a dynamic connection point for alumni, donors, and the wider community, providing information on events, philanthropic opportunities, and university updates.

Built on Givzey's advanced Version2.ai platform, Doug exemplifies how artificial intelligence is modernizing nonprofit outreach to deepen engagement and streamline communication.

“We are honored to be one of the first higher education partners and the first collaborator in the state to introduce this new technology from Givzey... We're thrilled to be leading the way, finding new approaches to meet our supporters where they are with exciting, groundbreaking solutions that build connection and community,”

said Brittanie Kuhr of the Foundation (read the full announcement about the University of Toledo Foundation's AI engagement officer).

Givzey's platform delivers measurable fundraising efficiencies, including smart workflows, automated reminders, and intelligent invoicing, as shown in the table below:

Feature	Benefit
Smart Gift Agreements	Transform static giving processes into dynamic fundraising assets
Dynamic Workflows	Streamline reviewing, revising, and documenting gifts
Automated Pledge Reminders	Scale multi-year giving with minimal manual effort
Intelligent Invoicing	Automate collections and reduce administrative burden

With this move, the UToledo Foundation positions itself as a national leader in using artificial intelligence for social good, reinforcing its mission to strengthen alumni ties and secure philanthropic support.

Learn more about this initiative on the UToledo Foundation news page with latest updates and discover Givzey's technology behind the new engagement officer at their official Givzey AI fundraising platform overview.

Microsoft has officially paused its highly anticipated $1 billion data center project across three sites in Licking County, Ohio - New Albany, Heath, and Hebron - amid a wider reassessment of AI infrastructure needs throughout the tech industry.

Originally announced in late 2024, the project was set to include a 245,000-square-foot facility in New Albany and significant investments in regional infrastructure, but local authorities confirmed that while land ownership will be retained and some sites will be maintained for farming, construction is on indefinite hold as the company evaluates future demand and market dynamics.

This pause is emblematic of Microsoft's broader trend, as it reevaluates global data center expansion in light of shifting AI demand, ongoing power grid challenges, and changes in its relationship with key AI partner OpenAI. As Noelle Walsh, Microsoft's President of Cloud Operations, explained,

“Any significant new endeavor at this size and scale requires agility and refinement as we learn and grow with our customers. What this means is that we are slowing or pausing some early-stage projects.”

While the company's global infrastructure investments remain robust - with over $80 billion targeted for AI and cloud expansion this fiscal year - this move aligns with industry experts who see a temporary capacity pause rather than a true downturn.

For more on the specifics behind Microsoft's Ohio decision, read the DatacenterDynamics report on Microsoft's $1B data center pause.

Deeper analysis on global market implications is available in the CNBC Technology Executive Council's industry overview, while concise local reporting can be found at ABC 6 Columbus' coverage of Microsoft's Licking County withdrawal.

AI adoption has reached a pivotal milestone in 2025, with 77% of devices - including smartphones, tablets, PCs, and wearables - now featuring artificial intelligence capabilities, fundamentally transforming user experience and market dynamics.

Leading innovations span from AI-powered on-device features like intelligent assistants and advanced camera systems to rapid growth in AI PCs, driven by the integration of Neural Processing Units (NPUs) and cloud-edge hybrid models.

The global mobile AI market grew from $22.43 billion in 2024 to $28.53 billion in 2025 and is set to soar to $316.64 billion by 2035, supported by a 27.21% CAGR detailed global market study.

Consumer confidence in AI is on the rise, with 47% of respondents actively using generative AI tools, and over half of users employing applications like ChatGPT, Google Gemini, and Microsoft Copilot for research, learning, and creativity.

Market share data shows ChatGPT's continued lead at nearly 60%, followed by Copilot (14.3%) and Google Gemini (13.4%), as illustrated below:

AI Chatbot	AI Search Market Share	Quarterly User Growth
ChatGPT	59.90%	8% ▲
Microsoft Copilot	14.30%	6% ▲
Google Gemini	13.40%	5% ▲

“When we first designed 5G about a decade ago, we didn't anticipate the explosive rise of artificial intelligence (AI).”

- Liu Guangyi, Chief Expert of China Mobile, Global 6G Conference 2025.

With consumer electronics companies investing heavily in AI infrastructure and a notable shift toward privacy-preserving on-device processing, the landscape is rapidly evolving.

Explore the latest consumer adoption trends and generative AI usage patterns in the 2025 Consumer Adoption of AI Report, and review granular AI chatbot market share insights from First Page Sage's May 2025 industry analysis.

Demand for AI solutions among Toledo's small and midsize businesses (SMBs) has surged in 2025, reflecting a national trend where AI adoption among SMBs jumped from 14% in 2023 to 39% in 2024, as reported by the Verizon State of Small Business Survey.

This growth is fueled by greater familiarity with AI, increased investment in digital operations, and the need for efficiency despite economic uncertainty. However, technical challenges remain significant.

According to CNWR Inc., a Toledo-based IT provider, most SMBs favor ready-made cloud-based AI tools like Microsoft Copilot over running complex AI models locally, due to limited in-house technical expertise.

Jason Slagle, President of CNWR Inc., notes:

“There is a ton of demand for AI. Not a ton of demand for running AI locally. Most people want Copilot, from the Microsoft 365 suite. Maybe they're playing with ChatGPT, but I haven't seen a ton of demand to run local AI models. Small businesses just don't have the expertise on staff to care and feed that.”

Industry groups and local institutions, such as the Toledo Regional Chamber, are offering training and support to address these skill gaps and talent needs (Toledo Regional Chamber workforce initiatives).

As SMBs experiment with AI to automate routine tasks and boost competitiveness, overcoming technical barriers - particularly around local deployment and integration - will be critical for realizing the full benefits of this technology wave.

OpenAI has ushered in a new era of AI reasoning with the release of its o3 and o4-mini models, representing a significant leap in AI's capacity to solve complex, multi-step problems involving both text and images.

The o3 model stands as the most advanced in the o-series, excelling at deep reasoning, coding, science, and visual understanding, while o4-mini delivers nearly comparable intelligence at a fraction of the cost and latency, making it ideal for high-throughput or real-time applications.

Both models can independently chain web searches, Python code execution, file analysis, and image generation, supporting workflows that seamlessly blend visual and textual information - a capability described as “thinking with images.” As OpenAI continues to reinforce its competitive position, these models set state-of-the-art records on industry benchmarks like SWE-bench and Codeforces, and integrate robust safety measures below the company's “High” risk threshold.

The following table summarizes their core features and pricing:

Model	Input Cost (per million tokens)	Output Cost (per million tokens)	Context Window	Performance
o3	$10	$40	200,000 tokens	69.1% SWE-bench, 82.9% MMMU
o4-mini	$1.10	$4.40	200,000 tokens	68.1% SWE-bench, 81.6% MMMU

“These are the first models where top scientists tell us they produce legitimately good and useful novel ideas.” - Greg Brockman, OpenAI President

For developers, o3 and o4-mini are now available in OpenAI's ChatGPT platform featuring o3 and o4-mini models and GitHub Copilot, unlocking agentic workflows and robust multimodal reasoning.

Deep dives comparing their cost-effective capabilities - especially the dramatically lower pricing of o4-mini - are available in this comprehensive o4-mini feature and benchmark analysis by DataCamp.

For additional details on their technical integrations and tool support, see VentureBeat's launch overview of OpenAI's o3 and o4-mini AI models.

Google's new AI Mode for Search has launched in the U.S., introducing an AI-powered search experience that utilizes the Gemini 2.5 model to deliver conversational, multimodal, and highly personalized results.

This update provides features like Deep Search for generating expert-level, fully cited reports in minutes, Live capabilities built on Google Lens for real-time camera-based assistance, and agentic functions for tasks like purchasing event tickets or making reservations - a move set to transform not just search interaction but also online shopping and daily digital tasks.

However, while Google touts a 10% increase in complex query engagement and improved response speed, the impact on website traffic is substantial: independent analyses confirm that AI-generated answers now direct far fewer clicks to traditional websites, with some publishers reporting a 48-56% drop in organic clickthrough rates and startups facing traffic reductions of 18-70% since the rollout.

According to Cognitive Today's analysis of search traffic, local businesses may benefit from hyperlocal results, but informational and e-commerce sites risk steep declines in visitor numbers.

As summarized by The Guardian, “AI Mode will make Google more powerful, particularly in the realm of information access and online influence,” while also warning that web publishers may see reduced traffic from search.

“With AI Overviews, people are visiting a greater diversity of websites for help with more complex questions. And we see that the links included in AI Overviews get more clicks than if the page had appeared as a traditional web listing for that query.” - Google

For more on AI Mode's features and the implications for content creators and marketers, see detailed reporting at The Guardian's coverage of Google's AI Mode launch.

AI-powered scams targeting seniors are escalating in Toledo, with the Better Business Bureau (BBB) warning of increasingly convincing voice cloning schemes that mimic loved ones in distress.

A local initiative, ScamGuard, has been expanding outreach to educate and empower older adults on how to recognize and respond to these new threats.

Scammers now use short audio clips from social media or voicemails to clone voices, often posing as grandchildren or trusted officials to solicit urgent payments via wire transfer or gift cards, a tactic highlighted in the Federal Trade Commission's consumer alert on AI-enhanced family emergency schemes.

According to reports, Ohioans over age 60 lost an average of more than $18,000 last year to such scams (source).

The table below summarizes scam types and warnings:

Scam Type	Key Warning/Tactic
AI Voice Cloning/Grandparent Scam	Urgent call from relative; voice sounds real; requests money wired or via gift cards
Bank Text & Call Scams	Fake texts/calls appearing from real banks; request login info or money transfer
Law Enforcement Impersonation	Caller claims legal issue/arrest threat; demands immediate payment

“Caller ID is worthless now. If you don't recognize the number, block and delete,” advises ScamGuard Program Director Pamela Rybka.

Authorities advise verifying the identity of callers, never giving out personal information, and reporting suspicious contacts to the BBB or local police.

Simple precautions and community education remain the best defense as Toledo's senior population faces this new wave of AI-driven fraud.

Toledo is emerging as a powerhouse for AI education and talent, led by Bowling Green State University (BGSU) and the University of Toledo. This fall, BGSU launches the nation's first Bachelor of Science in “AI + X,” enabling students to blend core artificial intelligence training with one of six disciplines, including computer science, mathematics, physics, history, journalism, or public relations (BGSU's first-in-nation AI + X bachelor's degree).

According to BGSU leaders, this program answers the growing demand for tech-savvy graduates as “AI-related job postings are growing 3.5 times faster than general jobs” and fields integrating AI see five times greater productivity growth.

A unique aspect is BGSU's partnership with Ohio-based companies to provide students hands-on experience with Industry 4.0 technologies, such as smart manufacturing and IoT, ensuring practical skills that translate directly to the workforce (BGSU industry-aligned AI programs).

University leaders emphasize a forward-thinking philosophy; as President Rodney K. Rogers notes,

“This program in AI + X will empower students to design their degree around a specific focus to drive innovation in workforce and industry... leading to great careers and great lives.”

The University of Toledo also fosters AI dialogue through events like the THInC Forum, underscoring regional momentum in upskilling and innovation (Education in the Era of AI – THInC Forum).

Together, BGSU and UToledo are positioning Toledo as a pivotal hub for AI talent - bridging education, industry, and future-ready careers.

Toledo's tech landscape is at a pivotal moment, with promising pathways emerging even as new responsibilities take center stage. Across the Midwest, major universities like the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign are powering ahead in artificial intelligence, leveraging hundreds of millions in research funding and industry partnerships to drive innovation in agriculture, healthcare, and education while emphasizing ethical AI development.

Regional dynamics are shifting, too: Microsoft recently announced a pause on its $1 billion Ohio data center project, reflecting the massive infrastructure demands of advanced AI and the changing priorities of key tech stakeholders, as reported in this WTVG news analysis.

Meanwhile, universities like Missouri S&T are responding with collaborative initiatives such as MinerAI, with leadership stating,

“Artificial intelligence's impact on society will only continue to grow, and as a premier technological university, it's essential that we lead in both AI education and research to prepare our students for the careers of tomorrow.”

(MinerAI press release).

As Toledo leverages these lessons, local entrepreneurs, students, and workers must balance the opportunity of new AI-powered roles with the need for upskilling and ethical engagement.

With reskilling opportunities expanding - such as Nucamp's flexible Software Engineering and Cybersecurity bootcamps supporting early-career pivoters and adult learners - the region can position itself for sustainable growth as the AI era unfolds.