Editorial Note: Opinions and thoughts are the author’s own and not those of AFROTECH™. It’s easy to assume that just because you can use AI for something that you should use AI for everything. People are already using it to create websites, images, and videos. These uses of AI do not carry a lot of penalties if something is wrong (depending on what you are building). However, an area in which people are increasingly using AI and should be cautious is the legal system — navigating legal issues, creating legal documents, or doing legal research. Ever since the release of ChatGPT over 2 years ago, we have seen people rush to bring AI to the world of professional services. Founders and investors alike have increasingly seen opportunity in leveraging AI to help in-house attorneys become more effective, and the everyday citizen has been looking to use AI instead of paying the cost of employing an attorney. Legal tech companies have made it their mission to reinvent legal professions and...
Two powerhouses in tech and beauty — Black Girls Code and The Doux — have launched the Black Beauty AI Challenge, a new competition empowering Black girls and young women to shape how AI understands Black beauty, according to a news release. With cash prizes, national recognition, and a New York City gallery showcase up for grabs, the competition blends innovation with cultural impact. Black Beauty AI Challenge Details And Prizes The challenge invites U.S.-based girls and young women, ages 13 to 25, to produce 60–90 second AI-generated videos showcasing their unique perspectives on Black beauty, style, and culture, per the release. Participants can enter through two age tracks: Youth Track: 13–17 Young Adult Track: 18–25 To ensure accessibility, prize-eligible entries must use free AI tools like Kaiber.ai, Runway ML, Luma Labs, Pika, CapCut, or Canva. Entries made with paid tools can earn honorary recognition but not cash prizes. No prior experience with coding or tech is necessary...
President Donald Trump has signed another executive order pertaining to AI. However, this time, it’s requiring AI companies that work with the federal government to remove “ideological agendas” from their models. “Removing Barriers to American Leadership in Artificial Intelligence,” which was ordered on Jan. 25, 2025, mandates that agencies only use large language models (LLMs) aligned with “Unbiased AI Principles” focused on truth-seeking and ideological neutrality, per a White House Fact Sheet released on Wednesday, July 23, 2025. On the same day, Trump unveiled his “AI Action Plan.” “This order revokes certain existing AI policies and directives that act as barriers to American AI innovation, clearing a path for the United States to act decisively to retain global leadership in artificial intelligence,” the order states. Under the order, AI tools must prioritize “historical accuracy, scientific inquiry, and objectivity” — while avoiding outputs influenced by frameworks like...
A feature prioritizing women’s safety is launching by a major rideshare company, but there are already women entrepreneurs who have been paving the way. Uber’s Latest Feature Promoting Women’s Safety CBS News reports that Uber will roll out a “Women Preferences” feature in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Detroit , which will allow women users to select women drivers for their rides. This follows just over a year since Lyft also launched its Women + Connect feature, according to a press release. In a statement, Uber confirms there was a demand from U.S. women riders and drivers who wanted to match with other women. The company had already rolled out the feature in 40 countries, fulfilling 100 trips. It’s important to note that women riders also have the option to pre-book drivers, but should expect longer wait times, as only one in five Uber drivers are women. “We would like to get this into as many cities as we can during this pilot phase,” said Camiel Irving, Uber VP of operations...
Walmart is investing in AI to power its next phase of digital transformation. On Thursday (July 24), it announced four AI-powered “super agents” designed to improve customer experience and “streamline operations,” Reuters reports. The goal is to grow e-commerce to 50% of total sales within five years. According to Reuters, the new AI agents, which are tailored for shoppers, associates, suppliers, and developers, are built on agentic AI, a technology designed to perform complex tasks with minimal human input. Sparky And The Shopper Experience Sparky, a generative AI tool, is already live in the Walmart app, Reuters reports. Customers can use it to get product suggestions, find printer ink, summarize product reviews, and more. Per the outlet, as a super agent, it will soon be able to reorder frequently purchased items, plan events, and suggest recipes using computer vision to scan fridge contents, according to Hari Vasudev, Walmart’s U.S. chief technology officer. Internal Tools For...
AFROTECH™ is going global. The annual AFROTECH™ Conference is designed to expose Black professionals to innovation and wealth-building opportunities within sectors that include AI, marketing and advertising, cybersecurity and risk, product and design, fintech, esports, and government and civics. Additionally, it is a launchpad to endless networking conversations, funding opportunities, and your next career move. Wells Fargo employee Aaron McBee credits the 2022 AFROTECH™ Conference for helping him land a role at the company, as AFROTECH™ previously reported. “AFROTECH™ is designed for impact, to reduce the likelihood that you need luck to be successful in the corporate environment. And the moment that AFROTECH™ doesn’t actually have that impact is the moment I’m out,” Blavity Co-Founder and CEO Morgan DeBaun said in a video posted on Instagram. “People get jobs at AFROTECH™. We have interview pods on-site. People get interviews, and companies will literally — I had one company the...
The Gathering Spot has secured strategic funding. As AFROTECH™ previously reported, The Gathering Spot, co-founded by Ryan Wilson and TK Petersen, is a private membership club that has made its way to major cities, including Atlanta, Chicago, New York, Detroit, Charlotte, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, and Houston. The Gathering Spot, which prides itself on creating an inviting and collaborative atmosphere, recently rolled out The Retreat, a 60,000-square-foot space that includes a pool, private dining rooms, and cabanas, all while overlooking Atlanta’s skyline. “I wanted our community to have access to the best spaces around,” Wilson said on “The Black Tech Green Money” podcast. “This is world class space that we we can go head-to-head with any favorite rooftop that you have around. It really is that sort of product. But the second thing is that I’ve always known that people connect or want to connect for different reasons.” He added, “If there’s a meaningful community conversation...
Amen Rahh, widely known as “Principal Rahh,” is a nationally recognized educator and best-selling author from Compton, CA, who first gained attention after leading a South Los Angeles high school to a 100% graduation rate. However, his mission took an unexpected turn. One of his students, Keon — an unhoused teen in foster care — had been accepted to Tuskegee University but couldn’t afford the final $480 he needed to attend. “He thought, ‘If I can get this $400, I can get out,'” Rahh told AFROTECH™. “Tragically, he lost his life before he could.” Rahh learned the news while working on his doctorate at UCLA and says the loss changed everything. “At [age] 34, I left my job and started a tech company to transform education,” Rahh said. The company — Knowlej — is using fintech innovation to reimagine what’s possible for underserved students nationwide. The Classroom To Real Life Since its 2023 launch, the fintech app Knowlej has reached more than 30,000 students, according to Rahh. He...
Former Division I athlete Nyla Pollard is now innovating in the sports world as a founder. Ballin AI In 2023, Pollard, along with a team of coaches, evaluators, and seasoned AI engineers, launched Ballin AI, a sports technology company that helps high school and college athletes assess their performance and serves as a recruiting resource for coaches, its website mentions. Through the platform, athletes can gain insight into how they are playing as well as how college coaches view their game. Players upload their film, which is then analyzed by a nationally recognized evaluator and scored across key criteria such as defense, shooting, rebounding, scoring, transition, ball handling, and finishing. This platform was a three-year effort led by Ballin AI Chief Development Officer Tenishia Benson, Pollard mentioned on LinkedIn. “Our report gives you an in-depth look at your skills, shooting, defense, and IQ to show you where you’re thriving, but also where you need to improve,” Pollard...
Atlanta-based social media startup Fanbase has reached a significant fundraising milestone — surpassing $12.7 million in its ongoing $17 million equity crowdfunding campaign, according to an Instagram post by founder and music industry executive Isaac Hayes III. Marking a shift in the broader tech landscape , Fanbase is bypassing traditional venture capital and turning everyday people into investors — offering the public a chance to own a piece of the platform for as little as $3.99. After reaching its $10 million equity crowdfunding goal in 2024 — a historic achievement that reportedly made Hayes the first Black man to raise this amount in a seed round via StartEngine under Regulation Crowdfunding — Fanbase launched this new $17 million Reg A equity crowdfunding campaign, as AFROTECH™ previously reported. “We have a plan, and we’re going to be able to scale and build the business in real time without having to stop and start and stop and start,” Hayes told AFROTECH™ Brand Manager...
Sola Babatunde reveals his standout experience that attracted major tech companies within the UX/UI sector. The Dallas area native’s foray into technology can be traced back to studying film in high school. He did not have a knack for the camera or other areas of film such as director of photography or acting. However, he discovered his strong suit was within the tech side of the field in sound engineering and editing, and as his skills strengthened it would introduce him to UX and UI. “Both of those have these modules you can script like a plugin,” he explained. “So I practiced scripting and coding plugins, and that was my first entry into the world of tech. And eventually those plugins had graphical user interfaces, and that was my first exposure to UX/UI.” Babatunde didn’t take an immediate detour into the field as a career . He obtained a bachelor of science degree in mechatronics engineering. According to his LinkedIn, he then landed a role as a part-time s ystem software...
Stephanie Dinkins is merging AI and art for an exhibition in Brooklyn, NY. An “artist by birth,” Dinkins began with a display of her photography from a trip to Central America — a trip prompted by her interest in learning Spanish. This exhibit, held in Staten Island, would become her first. Fast forward to 2025, and she has launched an exhibit that is merging art and AI with the goal of creating a more equitable future. Dinkins told AFROTECH™ in an interview that she’s always been drawn to technology, and in 2014 a pivotal moment pushed her to deeply explore how the future is being shaped. She witnessed a humanoid robot on YouTube, called Bina48, being interviewed by reporters. The technology was launched by Hanson Robotics four years earlier based primarily on the personality and appearance of Bina Aspen Rothblatt, a Black woman, the company website mentioned. Dinkins reached out to the company, which permitted her to talk to the robot that was being trained through conversations...
Culture Wireless is on a mission to bring affordable internet, better coverage, and community ownership to places that need it most. When the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) rescinded millions in federal broadband funds, it threatened to leave Georgia’s underserved communities further behind, according to The Current. For Culture Wireless, a Black-owned internet provider co-founded by William “Bam” Sparks (chief marketing officer), the impact was deeply personal. “Personally, it affects me because it hinders people in my community from having access,” Sparks told AFROTECH™ in an interview. “The government doesn’t understand how deeply it impacts certain neighborhoods, especially on the west side of Atlanta, where there’s a digital red line and limited access to basic tools.” For Sparks, the funding cuts weren’t just setbacks — they sparked a renewed drive to build solutions beyond traditional telecom and government efforts. Culture Wireless was created to close this...
Elon Musk’s AI company, xAI, is facing growing backlash, as the NAACP, along with several environmental groups, recently filed a legal appeal. They’re challenging a permit that allows xAI to run gas-burning turbines at its massive supercomputer facility in Memphis, TN, according to CNBC. The Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) filed the complaint on behalf of the NAACP and the youth-led group Young, Gifted & Green. At the core of the dispute: air pollution concerns. When xAI arrived in Memphis in June 2024, it said the turbines at the data center were temporary and small enough to not require permits. But over time, residents, many from majority-Black neighborhoods, began reporting foul odors and worsening air quality, CNBC reports. Despite the outcry, the Shelby County Health Department issued a permit on July 2. It allows xAI to operate up to 15 turbines. The department agreed with xAI’s claim that these are “nonroad engines,” a category that lowers its restrictions. In its...
Odell Beckham Jr. has no regrets with going against the grain. Decision To Accept Bitcoin In 2021 As AFROTECH™ previously told you, Beckham made the decision in 2021 to accept bitcoin as the form of payment for his contract at the time with the Los Angeles Rams, in partnership with Cash App. In doing so, he followed in the footsteps of Russell Okung, who was the first player in the NFL to be paid in bitcoin. In fact, Okung reportedly agreed to receive half of his $13 million salary at the time ($6.5 million) in the form of bitcoin, which was later worth $20 million by 2024, according to Bleacher Report. As for Beckham’s investment, he reportedly received a $750,000 payout from the Rams, which was converted into bitcoin, a separate article from the Bleacher Report mentions. To commemorate the announcement, Beckham Jr. also gave money to his fans in the form of bitcoin. “It’s a NEW ERA and to kick that off I’m hyped to announce that I’m taking my new salary in Bitcoin thanks to Cash...