This Month's Latest Tech News in Virginia Beach, VA - Saturday May 31st 2025 Edition

Virginia Beach and Hampton Roads are accelerating as powerhouses in AI and tech innovation, underpinned by landmark initiatives and industry investments. The region is set to become a global internet hub, with new subsea cables and data infrastructure positioning the I-64 Innovation Corridor for a surge in high-paying tech jobs and economic growth, as highlighted by RVA757 Connects' Virginia Beach Tech Initiatives.

Groundbreaking AI-driven events are energizing the business community, from AI in Manufacturing workshops at the Advanced Technology Center to hands-on sessions showcasing generative AI in design and construction.

Meanwhile, a transformative partnership between Arrive AI and Go2 Delivery introduces secure autonomous delivery of high-value medications - pioneering carbon-free logistics in Virginia Beach and beyond.

As Eric Brown, CEO of Go2 Delivery, puts it,

“The Arrive AI platform offers a compelling solution for pharmacies handling high-risk, high-value medications. Our partnership ensures secure delivery, especially important to avoid health risks and legal violations related to incorrect deliveries, such as HIPAA fines and lawsuits.”

The momentum is further boosted by industry gatherings like the AME Hampton Roads 2025 Lean Summit and the rising adoption of AI in multifamily housing operations, driving efficiency and innovation.

For a closer look at how regional collaborations are advancing this tech ecosystem, explore the detailed partnership announcement at StockTitan's coverage of Arrive AI and Go2 Delivery partnership.

The U.S. Navy in Norfolk is ramping up its integration of artificial intelligence (AI) across numerous domains, from healthcare to unmanned operations, illustrating a broad push toward technological modernization.

Admiral Daryl Caudle, Commander of U.S. Fleet Forces Command, estimates there are “some 60 different programs that I can say artificial intelligence is actually working in today in some mature way for the Navy,” highlighting applications ranging from predictive health diagnostics for sailors to real-time threat identification in complex operational settings.

In parallel, the Navy's digital transformation strategy, scheduled for release in 2026, will further chart AI's role in readiness, maintenance, and administrative functions; key innovations already include machine learning models that help forecast ship part failures and optimize logistics, minimizing costly inventory and reducing downtime (Navy Strategy Outlining AI Use Cases Is Coming by 2026).

Meanwhile, Norfolk's Naval Station is preparing infrastructure and community engagement in anticipation of becoming the East Coast base for the MQ-25A Stingray drone squadron - expected to bring 20 carrier-based unmanned refueling aircraft and up to 700 sailors by 2035 - with ongoing public review of the draft environmental plan (Norfolk's MQ-25A Drone Squadron Plans).

Emphasizing the commitment to partnerships and operational readiness, the USNS Comfort recently departed Norfolk on its Continuing Promise 2025 mission, leveraging cross-service AI-enabled capabilities for medical care and disaster preparedness in Central and South America (USNS Comfort Departs Norfolk in Support of Continuing Promise 2025).

As Rear Adm. Mike Brookes remarked,

This is not magic

, but rather, a pragmatic approach to ensure that evolving technologies tangibly advance the Navy's mission.

In a significant move for Virginia Beach's health tech sector, DOMA Technologies, Livanta, and Advanta Government Services have merged and rebranded as Commence, a data-driven, human-centered company dedicated to transforming government and public health programs.

The merger, following their acquisition by Pleasant Land, leverages proprietary AI-powered platforms and a team of over 500 clinicians to serve 60% of the Medicare population across 27 states and optimize complex federal programs, including those for veterans and Medicare beneficiaries.

“The name Commence signifies that we are embarking on a journey toward better healthcare outcomes – for the clients we work with and populations we serve,” said Gavin Long, Managing Partner at Pleasant Land.

“We believe the next advance in government, in health, and toward quality care will be fueled by technology, clinical expertise, data access, discoverability and interoperability. By combining the expertise and resources of DOMA Technologies, Livanta, and Advanta Government Services, Commence empowers health organizations to achieve their full potential.”

With a focus on reducing administrative burdens and improving healthcare program efficiency, Commence has completed more than 1.3 million independent medical reviews and prevented the premature discharge of over 280,000 patients.

Their AI-enhanced data solutions empower agencies such as the VA and HHS to streamline operations at scale. For a deeper look at the merger's local and national impact, visit the original Business Wire announcement on the Commence merger and explore additional coverage from Yahoo! Finance's detailed report on the DOMA Technologies, Livanta, and Advanta Government Services merger.

Portsmouth, VA is poised to revolutionize waste management with the imminent arrival of a groundbreaking AI-powered recycling facility valued at $200 million.

Announced by Mayor Shannon Glover, this ambitious project is the result of a partnership between the Southeastern Public Service Authority and AMP Robotics, and aims to dramatically extend landfill life by using artificial intelligence to sort recyclables directly from trash - an innovation that could one day phase out separate recycling bins.

Powered by the AMP ONE™ system, the facility operates with over 90% uptime and can process 150 tons of municipal solid waste (MSW) per day, diverting more than 60% of material away from landfills through advanced recognition of colors, shapes, and textures for precision separation.

According to AMP Robotics and RDS, this facility exemplifies a scalable, cost-effective solution for municipalities facing shrinking landfill space.

The project is further energized by AMP's recent $91 million Series D funding round and new technology deployments nationwide. As CEO Matanya Horowitz explains,

“The economic and environmental opportunity in extracting value from the municipal solid waste stream is massive, and innovative sortation is key to unlocking this market.”

Unique features like AI-driven organic waste diversion (producing biochar) and customizable sorting via air jets highlight the facility's technological edge.

For more on the impact of Portsmouth's smart waste innovations - including contract details and expansion plans - read the full story at WHRO's coverage of SPSA's AI-powered waste strategy.

AMP Robotics is piloting an innovative approach at Portsmouth's municipal waste facility, integrating AI-powered sorting with biochar production to address the city's growing organic waste challenge.

Their AI system processes up to 150 tons of local waste daily, accurately separating recyclables and diverting organics away from landfills - a crucial move as the regional Suffolk landfill approaches capacity.

By converting organic material into biochar (a stable carbon form produced in the absence of oxygen), AMP Robotics and their partner, Recycling and Disposal Solutions of Virginia, enable long-term carbon sequestration and reduce landfill methane emissions.

As AMP CTO Matanya Horowitz explains,

“What happens is the carbon in the biogenic material...carbonizes. In particular, it becomes a form of carbon that microbes can't break down. So...it's been taken out of the carbon cycle and so it serves as a form of carbon sequestration.”

Compared to composting - which requires extensive land - biochar production is compact, capital efficient, and supports multiple environmental benefits, including improved landfill odor control and enhanced soil for agriculture.

Plans are underway to expand this system regionally, supported by a long-term contract with the Southeast Public Service Authority, which aims to halve landfill waste by combining all trash collection streams.

For more on the pivotal regional contract and future expansion, see the WHRO News report on SPSA's strategy to reduce landfill use.

Explore deeper insights from AMP's founder in the WTKR interview about biochar's impact on Portsmouth's waste management.

For details on the facility's AI throughput and technological rollout, watch AMP's video demonstration of their Portsmouth AI sorting operations.

Facing a persistent school bus driver shortage, Virginia Beach schools are teaming up with HopSkipDrive to provide safe, flexible transportation for students with unique needs - such as those experiencing homelessness, in foster care, or living with disabilities.

Through partnerships, including a recent collaboration with Chesapeake Public Schools, HopSkipDrive supplements traditional buses by deploying a network of experienced, rigorously-vetted CareDrivers and leveraging AI-driven route planning via RouteWise AI™ to increase efficiency and reliability.

Drivers must have at least five years of caregiving experience and pass a 15-point certification process, while parents and districts benefit from real-time ride tracking, multi-factor authentication, and enhanced safety features.

As Dr. David Benson of Chesapeake Public Schools notes,

“Chesapeake Public Schools is excited to partner with HopSkipDrive, especially to supplement our yellow school buses and support our students needing more individualized transportation. Reliable transportation is crucial for student attendance and academic focus. HopSkipDrive's expertise in providing safe and supplemental transportation makes them an ideal partner.”

Virginia's statewide rate of unfilled bus driver positions has dropped to 8.7% from 13.6% in 2021-22, yet 91% of surveyed districts still report constraints on school transportation, underscoring the urgent need for these innovative solutions.

The company's recent SOC 2 Type II compliance and introduction of wheelchair-accessible vehicles further demonstrate its commitment to safety, security, and equity.

For more details, see Virginia Mercury's detailed report on tech-powered rides for Virginia schools, HopSkipDrive's announcement of the Virginia Beach expansion by HopSkipDrive, and School Bus Fleet's coverage of the HopSkipDrive partnership with Virginia districts.

Groundworks, North America's leading foundation and water management solutions firm headquartered in Virginia Beach, has named Rajeev Rai as its new Chief Technology Officer in a move to supercharge its digital and AI-driven transformation.

With more than 30 years of global IT leadership across sectors - spanning retail, supply chain, and high-tech - Rai will spearhead efforts to modernize Groundworks' AI and mobile tools, upgrade its marketing and infrastructure technology, and enhance overall company operations.

Citing Rai's proven track record at SRS Distribution, CEO Matt Malone said,

“The addition of Rajeev Rai to our leadership team is a continuation of our philosophy to challenge norms in home services and deliver better results for our customers.”

Known for rapid growth - nearly 80 offices across the U.S. and Canada, over one million homeowners served, and a team now exceeding 6,000 - Groundworks is poised for greater innovation and efficiency under Rai's vision.

The new CTO emphasized his goal to leverage AI and digital strategies “to scale company operations and boost efficiency while enhancing the customer journey from start to finish.” For a detailed breakdown of Rai's credentials and company milestones, see the official Groundworks announcement, additional context at GlobeNewswire's press release, and interview highlights from Rai's recent AI Leaders Summit appearance.

OpenMetal, based in Virginia Beach, has launched its high-performance Private GPU Servers and Clusters, aiming to empower AI, machine learning, and high-performance computing teams with dedicated NVIDIA A100 and H100 GPUs and bare metal access for maximum control and performance.

Unlike public cloud offerings, OpenMetal provides full hardware control, transparent pricing with monthly billing, and deep customization for industries like healthcare, finance, and research.

As Rafael Ramos, Director of Software Engineering at OpenMetal, stated:

“Public cloud GPU access is riddled with limitations - premium pricing, throttled performance, and infrastructure you don't truly control. We built our GPU Servers and Clusters to provide a different experience: complete control, transparent pricing, and no compromises on performance or privacy.”

Alongside supporting the latest AI frameworks such as PyTorch, TensorFlow, and Hugging Face Transformers, OpenMetal features advanced GPU sharing technologies - including NVIDIA Multi-Instance GPU (MIG) and time-slicing - that enable secure, multi-tenant solutions for both cloud resellers and enterprises seeking infrastructure flexibility.

The new hardware is currently available in US East and West regions, with expansion plans for Europe and Asia later this year. For more detail on technical features, use cases, and OpenMetal's unique approach to GPU infrastructure, read the official OpenMetal press release on their GPU platform, explore thorough insights in this Data Center Dynamics news analysis of OpenMetal's GPU servers and clusters, and dive deeper into implementation strategies in OpenMetal's detailed guide to on-demand GPU cloud services.

The Hampton VA Medical Center and its partners are at the forefront of using artificial intelligence to advance veteran health diagnostics, deploying AI-driven tools to address complex challenges in patient care.

Dr. Sairam Parthasarathy and the University of Arizona have integrated machine learning algorithms into electronic medical records, enabling quick identification of veterans at high risk for conditions like sleep apnea - a disorder linked to PTSD, heart disease, and depression, yet often underdiagnosed in this population.

As Dr. Parthasarathy explains,

“It's about harnessing biomedical research and bringing it to veterans to help improve their health.”

This push aligns with the VA's broader AI strategy, outlined in their AI Use Case Inventory from the Department of Veterans Affairs, which catalogs over 200 AI initiatives spanning diagnostics, suicide prevention, and administrative efficiency.

Notably, recent research has shown the power of AI to stratify suicide risk among veterans with impressive accuracy - models analyzing service, health, and sociodemographic data achieve up to 0.87 AUC for predicting suicide within a month of discharge according to Mass General Hospital's AI research on veteran suicide risk.

These initiatives, coordinated by the National Artificial Intelligence Institute (NAII), leverage the VA's unique genomic-healthcare database and ensure strong privacy and security controls, setting a benchmark for national healthcare AI standards.

For a deeper dive into these pioneering innovations and their impact on veteran wellbeing, visit the VA AI Innovations Overview article.

Apartment marketers in Virginia Beach are turning to generative AI to differentiate their communities and enhance every aspect of the renter experience. At Breeden Company's Pinnacle on 31st Street, creative teams leveraged Microsoft Copilot to spark original branding - AI coined unique terms like "interplay," which inspired standout marketing content that distinguishes the property from the area's traditional beach themes.

But successful AI integration in apartment marketing goes beyond creativity: property managers now employ chatbots and AI-powered CRMs for 24/7 lead capture, prescreening, and tour scheduling, resulting in up to a 60% lease closing ratio compared to pre-AI averages of 40-50% and renting up communities like Avant at Huntington Pointe to 94% occupancy within nine months - months ahead of schedule (AI tools drive multifamily efficiency and resident satisfaction).

Yet, experts emphasize that generative AI should support - not replace - human creativity:

“Generative AI creates generic content, and in an industry where differentiation is everything, generic AI-generated apartment listings and website content is just marketing suicide.”

(John Wadsworth, as reported in Multi-Housing News June 2025).

To maximize impact, leaders recommend defining AI's role with clear prompts, iteratively refining results, and maintaining a prompt library for consistency. Meanwhile, industrywide data reveals that digital adopters are shifting marketing to new search platforms and social channels, optimizing for Bing, Perplexity, and platforms like TikTok and Instagram as younger renters favor conversational, peer-driven content.

As summarized by insiders, “success in digital visibility requires a multi-faceted strategy” - blending AI automation with creative human oversight (How AI is Changing Apartment Marketing Strategies in 2025).

At a pivotal Virginia Beach NAACP education forum, the school board's decision to suspend Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) policies - despite federal injunctions blocking related executive orders - sparked passionate debate across the community.

The board, split 6-5, ultimately replaced DEI language in its policies and strategic plans, with former “Educational Equity” efforts now recast as “Educational Opportunity and Achievement,” and terms like “diverse” and “equity” struck from guiding documents.

Changes detailed by 13News Now show the elimination of key strategies, including multicultural curriculum and targeted supports for underrepresented students.

Community response was robust, with Dr. Eric Majette, president of the Virginia Beach NAACP, asserting,

“These efforts are not about improving education; they are about erasure and exclusion. Our children deserve better than performative caution and political games. They deserve leadership committed to justice, representation, and truth.”

Despite board assurances that core educational values will remain, town hall attendees highlighted ongoing uncertainty regarding the true impact on student experiences and data transparency.

For a breakdown of board votes, policy shifts, and advocacy perspectives, readers can review reporting from The Dogwood's coverage of community response to DEI suspension and WAVY News report on Virginia Beach school board's DEI suspension decision.

The evolving dialogue underscores the complexity and regional significance of DEI policy decisions in K-12 education.

Virginia Beach continues to establish itself as a regional leader in AI innovation, balancing robust technological growth with ongoing public policy debate. The city's pioneering real-world deployments, such as AI-driven 911 dispatch via Amazon Connect, are addressing urgent staffing gaps and improving emergency response, leading officials like ECCS Director Jada Lee to predict,

“I think you're going to find more and more 911 centers utilizing the technology that's available to them.”

On the legislative front, Virginia's ambitions to become a model for responsible AI use - seen in the comprehensive but business-friendly High-Risk Artificial Intelligence Developer and Deployer Act - were checked by Governor Glenn Youngkin's recent veto, sparking statewide debate over the right regulatory approach.

Industry experts note crucial differences from the EU's stringent rules, with Virginia's model offering lighter compliance requirements and broad sector exemptions.

As one legislator aptly summarized,

“We don't want to step on your ability to be innovative and creative, but we do want to make sure we're protecting people along with business.”

Still, Virginia's high “AI Readiness Index” ranking and strong public-private partnerships underscore its critical role in 2025's national AI transformation.

For those ready to join Virginia Beach's next tech wave, Nucamp's specialized bootcamps - like the 30-week Solo AI Tech Entrepreneur program and Full Stack Web + Mobile Development track - with affordable payment plans, scholarships, and career-focused curriculums tailored for AI's rapid ascent, offer valuable opportunities.