Editorial Note: Opinions and thoughts are the author’s own and not those of AFROTECH™. The current and future benefits of AI have been mostly what is centered in conversations about the emerging technology, but recently, people have been bringing attention to what this may be costing people, especially Black and brown ones. We are all aware of how racism exists as it relates to systems, but you can also see signs of racism in the way environments are formed and how they are, or are not, tended to over time. Prominent Black figures and organizations have recently been calling out how AI could affect Black communities. Billboard reported that R&B artist SZA stated her concerns about how much energy and pollution goes into running AI. She specifically mentioned Memphis, TN, where the NAACP has notified Elon Musk’s xAI with their intent to sue the company for the pollution it’s creating in the city, as reported by AP. Environmental racism is not a new topic, but it has come to light...

John Imah founded a tech company that has hit unicorn status. For Imah, the drive to succeed was instilled early. Growing up in a Nigerian household, his parents pushed him toward one of two career paths: lawyer or doctor. Tech wasn’t even on the radar. His family also grew up poor, so when his parents sacrificed for them to move to America, it was with the hope of building a better future. That dream came to life when several family members became doctors and nurses. But tech stayed in a “gray bubble” for most of them. However, Imah embraced it fully, showing an interest as early as age 7. “My parents knew early on because when I was 7 years old, I took apart my first computer. It was just a natural God-given talent,” he explained on the “Black Tech Green Money” podcast hosted by AFROTECH™  Brand Manager Will Lucas. “They were pissed. Like ‘We just bought this new household computer, and you just took it apart. If you don’t put this back together…’ And so I ended up putting it back...

Perplexity Founder Aravind Srinivas is planting his flag in the fierce race to lead in AI. Srinivas is a former intern at Google and OpenAI who was inspired to create his own billion-dollar tech company. Fortune reports that Srinivas had been a Google student his entire life. So, it is no surprise that he was greatly inspired by Google CEO Sundar Pichai, also from his hometown, Chennai, India. A turning point in his journey to becoming a founder was reading the book, “In the Plex.” He came across it while interning at Google DeepMind’s headquarters in London, and the book detailed Google’s first 15 years. Srinivas’s exact vision for his startup would be molded later during his time at OpenAI, behind the popular large language model ChatGPT, which was first released in 2022. The company, led by CEO Sam Altman, has announced its latest innovation, GPT-5, describing it as a “Ph.D.-level expert” in your pocket, as AFROTECH™ previously reported. However, Srinivas did not want to...

OpenAI has released a more advanced language model powered by AI, GPT-5. What To Expect From GPT-5 OpenAI announced its latest tech advancement, GPT-5, during a livestream Thursday, Aug. 7 . According to Reuters, the advancement will be available to all 700 million of its ChatGPT users. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said in a press conference that GPT-5 is a “major upgrade” and promises it will be faster, smarter, and more intuitive.   The New York Times reports that GPT-5 leverages a large language model that can solve complex problems or tasks, otherwise known as a reasoning model . During the livestream, Altman said it will allow users to gain “access to an entire team of Ph. D.-level experts in your pocket.” “For most people on ChatGPT, this is their first introduction to reasoning,” Nick Turley, the OpenAI vice president overseeing ChatGPT, explained, per The New York Times. “It just knows when to ‘think.’” Furthermore , GPT-5 will show lesser instances of “hallucination” and will be...

Instagram has started rolling out new features aimed at helping people connect in more personal and interactive ways. Among the latest updates, according to a news release from Meta Platforms, Inc., is a location-sharing tool called the Instagram map, along with new reposting capabilities and a dedicated Friends tab in Reels. Here’s what’s changing and how to use these features. Instagram Map: Real-Time Location Sharing With Friends View this post on Instagram A post shared by Adam Mosseri (@mosseri) The new map feature allows Instagram users to share their live location with a selected group of friends, per the release. It’s opt-in only, and you decide who sees your location. Once activated, your real-time location updates only when you open the app. Users can also see friends’ locations if they’ve chosen to share. The map also highlights public content posted near a specific location, the company shared in the release. This includes tagged Reels, Stories, feed posts, and Notes...

Morgan State University has unveiled a groundbreaking technology. Autonomous Wheelchair Technology According to information shared with AFROTECH™, the Historically Black College and University (HBCU) and Carnegie-classified high research (R2) institution is responsible for releasing an autonomous wheelchair technology to help disabled populations navigate busy areas such as airports, hospitals, museums, college campuses, and military bases. Supported by more than five years of research, the wheelchair using an Autonomous Mobility System was conceived by Dr. Mansoureh Jeihani, professor and director of the National Transportation Center (NTC) and the SMARTER Center at Morgan State. Dr. Kofi Nyarko, a professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and director of the Center for Equitable AI and Machine Learning Systems ( CEAMLS ) at the school, also contributed to the design. He served as the lead technical advisor. The technology was brought to life building upon...

Founder Mitchell Jones announced on Aug. 6, 2025, that his startup, Lava Payments — a digital wallet that enables merchants to use usage credits for transactions in an AI-driven web — has raised $5.8 million in a seed funding round led by Lerer Hippeau. According to TechCrunch, Lava aims to simplify payment processes and developer workflows by building a solution for the modern web, where AI agents increasingly handle transactions on behalf of users. The funding will go toward hiring, product development, and go-to-market strategies. “We see the world as very interconnected,” Jones told TechCrunch, explaining how his product differs from its competitors. “What we’re really focused on is building [for the] agent-native economy.” Jones launched Lava after departing from his Y Combinator-backed fintech startup, Lendtable, and diving into AI development. While building a basic form-filling agent, he spent over $400 and repeatedly ran into the same issues — starting new subscriptions,...

It’s the best time to visit Martha’s Vineyard for several reasons. The island is a strip located seven miles off the coast of Massachusetts and is a refuge for many affluent Black families looking to vacation. The ideal time to visit the island is during the summer months. The area was recently depicted in Netflix’s “Forever” series, directed by Mara Brock Akil, when Justin Edwards (played by Michael Cooper Jr.) paid a visit to Oak Buffs with his family, which reignited a connection with Keisha Clark (played by Lovie Simone). Fashion brand Ralph Lauren also highlights Oak Bluffs with a recent collection centered around its history. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Polo Ralph Lauren (@poloralphlauren) Oak Buff, in particular, is a location that remains on the radar of Black families every year, and the reasoning can be traced back to the late 19th century. Formerly enslaved Black individuals and freed families once flocked to the area, viewing it as a refuge from...

Heavy hitters are making their way to this year’s AFROTECH™ Conference. The annual tech event of the year for Black professionals, which has reached thousands of changemakers, innovators, and the next generation of technology leaders, is returning to Houston Oct. 27-31. It will be the place to be, and we encourage you to participate, whether as an attendee at a fireside chat or panel, guest at a mixer or networking event, or job seeker at the expo hall. Expect a dynamic lineup of panels and fireside chats covering Cybersecurity and Risk, Engineering, Data, Government and Civic, Product and Design, the Future of Work (HR), the Future of Health Care (AfroMedTech), Esports, Energy and Sustainability, Artificial Intelligence, Fintech, Marketing, and Advertising. Meet The 2025 AFROTECH™ Headliners So Far This year’s programming will explore some of the tech industry’s most critical and fast-evolving sectors. Headliners include Stacey Abrams, a former Georgia State Representative who...

Google is making a major investment in Africa’s AI future. According to a blog post, Google.org announced a $37 million investment to support research and advance AI initiatives, recognizing the continent’s role as a key player in climate resilience, agriculture, healthcare, education, and more sectors. Efforts will include a $25 million commitment to support African researchers and nonprofits leveraging AI tools to “improve hunger forecasting, strengthen crop resilience, and support smallholder farmers with real-time, actionable insights,” based on the post. Breakdown Of Commitment Additionally, the blog post states $3 million will be allocated to the Masakhane African Languages AI Hub to enhance the representation of over 40 African languages by funding new research opportunities and supporting open-source tools. An amount of $1 million will also be awarded to both the African Institute for Data Science and Artificial Intelligence (AfriDSAI) at the University of Pretoria and...

College graduates have a new outlook on education. According to a Kickresume survey of 1,277 respondents, entering the workforce is becoming increasingly complex, even with a college degree. Of fresh graduates, 58% claim they have not yet found a job, which compares to 25% of earlier graduates who were surveyed and have worked at least a year. This tracks as the survey reveals it is three times harder for graduates to land a full-time role before they leave college. Of earlier graduates, 39% had secured a full-time job before graduating; however that number shrunk to 12% for the fresh graduates in the study. In Resume Genius’s “2025 Gen Z Career Prospects Report,” which surveyed 1,000 full-time Gen Z workers, one in five respondents felt their degree did not add value to their career. Additionally, one in four expressed regret about attending college. “These kids got sold a bag of goods. College became this magical ticket that supposedly guaranteed success,” Michael Ryan, a finance...

Editorial Note: Opinions and thoughts are the author’s own and not those of AFROTECH™. The more mature an industry becomes, the more conservative it becomes. T his has happened in white collar functions such as law, finance , and consulting, and has now come for the tech industry as well. An industry that used to pride itself on embracing liberal politics and culture has now become more politically and culturally conservative than any other time in recent history. Marc Andreessen of Andreessen Horowitz ( A16Z) said, per The Washington Post, that elite universities like Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Stanford University will “pay the price” for DEI in a tech group chat moderated by a former employee of A16Z, Sriram Krishnan, who is now a White House senior policy advisor on AI. Andreessen’s issue with universities may be more personal than anything else, since in the group chat, he said that Stanford forced his wife, Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen, out of her position as chair...

When the world shut down in 2020, Alexander Zanders made a decision some may not have dared — selling his crypto holdings to buy 100 acres of farmland in Nigeria, betting on soil over tech or urban assets. “I always tell people I did what any rational person would do when the world feels like it’s ending,” he told AFROTECH™ in an interview. “I started farming.” That move wasn’t just a pandemic pivot. It marked the beginning of UfarmX, a fintech company that, according to Zanders, helps smallholder farmers across Africa access credit, high-quality inputs, and the opportunity to scale what they’ve always done — grow food. A Mission Rooted In Experience A Baltimore native and Temple University alum, Zanders didn’t come from a farming background. His path — from exporting iPads to building agri-fintech infrastructure in West Africa — shows how innovation can grow from direct, on-the-ground experience. Before launching UfarmX, Zanders was already an entrepreneur. As an undergrad, he...

The tech startup community in Detroit will be receiving a boost! Detroit Startup Fund According to a news release, Mayor Mike Duggan, Detroit Economic Growth Corporation (DEGC) officials, City Council President Mary Sheffield, and additional leaders gathered at New Lab at Michigan Central to announce the launch of the Detroit Startup Fund. This $700,000 initiative will award grants to various tech startups in Detroit. “This fund isn’t just about money. It’s about validation and creating pathways for startups that traditional funding sources often overlooked,” Black Tech Saturdays Co-Founder Johnnie Turnage said in the news release. “Detroit and Michigan have incredible talent, but we’ve often lacked the early-stage support that helps startups create jobs. This fund is a monumental step in helping change that.” The first two rounds of recipients will be awarded over the next year, totaling 26 grants — including 20 seed grants of $15,000 each and six scale grants of $50,000 each. The...

AI is rapidly transforming the job market. In tech, companies are cutting jobs. In other industries, however, professionals with AI skills are finding higher pay and new opportunities. A report by labor market analytics firm Lightcast, cited by Fortune, shows the shift is already in progress. The report, “Beyond the Buzz,” analyzed over 1.3 billion job postings. It found that while some tech roles are declining, demand for AI skills is rising in marketing, education, finance, and human resources. Tech Jobs Are On The Chopping Block Over the past year, tech companies have cut jobs while expanding their AI investments, Crunchbase reports. Automation is taking over roles in software development, IT support, and administration. Fortune reports that up to 80,000 workers have been affected. Microsoft alone has cut 15,000 jobs while investing $80 billion in AI, the outlet states. Lightcast data confirms the trend. AI-skilled jobs in IT and computer science dropped from 61% in 2019 to 49%...