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Watch Now: CeD Mixon Shares How He Bridges Product- And Design-Led Leadership At AFROTECH™ 2024

For CeD Mixon, balancing user-centered design with data-driven product strategy is core to his approach. As a seasoned design leader, he collaborates closely with product managers, VPs, and cross-functional teams to keep the end goal sharply focused on the user. At AFROTECH™  Conference 2024 , Mixon shared actionable insights on when to lead with design thinking and when to lean into product-led growth. The session offered practical frameworks to help engineers, designers, and solution architects align product development with both user experience and business goals. With over a decade of experience scaling companies from small startups to global platforms impacting millions, Mixon reflected on entering the tech industry at a time when he was often the only Black person in predominantly white spaces. Purchase your ticket to AFROTECH™ Conference 2025 now!   View this post on Instagram   A post shared by AFROTECH™ Conference (@afrotech.conference) “In the beginning, I wasn’t that...

Jun 20, 2025

NAACP To File Lawsuit Against Elon Musk's South Memphis AI Firm Over Pollution In Black Neighborhoods

The NAACP plans to sue Elon Musk ‘s Memphis, TN-based AI company, xAI, over concerns about air pollution stemming from a supercomputer facility allegedly operating gas turbines without proper permits. Represented by the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC), the NAACP filed its legal challenge on Tuesday as the Shelby County Health Department (SCHD) reviews xAI’s permit application, according to The Associated Press. Activists and opponents say the facility is polluting predominantly Black neighborhoods in South Memphis. The NAACP sent a letter to the SCHD and Memphis Light, Gas, and Water on May 29, demanding an emergency order to halt xAI’s operations or, at the very least, cite the company for violating clean air standards, AFROTECH™ previously reported. “While data centers are becoming more prevalent across the country, there is a growing need to guarantee transparency regarding environmental and climate concerns, the burden these centers have on communities, and ensuring...

Jun 18, 2025

Mississippi HBCUs Part Of $9.1M Effort To Expand AI Education And Workforce Development Statewide

Three historically Black colleges and universities ( HBCUs ) in Mississippi will benefit from a $9.1 million higher education grant the state received to expand artificial intelligence (AI) education , workforce training, and entrepreneurship. According to WJTV 12 News, on June 12, 2025, Governor Tate Reeves announced the grants through the Mississippi AI Talent Accelerator Program (MAI-TAP), aimed at strengthening the state’s workforce and economic future. In addition to the state support, each institution will seek private funding and resources to maximize impact. “This is another bold step forward for Mississippi,” Reeves said. “We’re not just preparing for the future – we’re building it. This investment will help to ensure that Mississippians are equipped with the skills needed to thrive in a rapidly evolving digital economy.” Administered by AccelerateMS, Jackson State University (JSU) in Jackson received $1.3 million to launch the Executive On Roster (XOR) initiative, which...

Jun 16, 2025

Disney And NBCUniversal File First Major Studio Lawsuit Against AI Firm Over Copyright Infringement

Disney and NBCUniversal have joined forces to take legal action against Midjourney, accusing the generative artificial intelligence (AI) company of copyright infringement for allegedly producing “hundreds, if not thousands” of unauthorized AI-generated images on its website. The companies’ lawsuit , filed on Wednesday, June 11, 2025, in Los Angeles, CA, includes examples of alleged infringements featuring characters from Marvel, “Star Wars,” Disney’s “Frozen,” “The Simpsons,” Pixar’s “Toy Story” and “Cars,” DreamWorks’ “How to Train Your Dragon,” and Universal’s “Shrek” and “Despicable Me” franchises, according to Variety. “By helping itself to Plaintiffs’ copyrighted works, and then distributing images (and soon videos) that blatantly incorporate and copy Disney’s and Universal’s famous characters — without investing a penny in their creation — Midjourney is the quintessential copyright free-rider and a bottomless pit of plagiarism,” the lawsuit states. The complaint further states...

Jun 12, 2025

UK-Based Tech Startup Definely Raises $30M Series B Funding Round To Amp Up Legal AI

A UK-based legal tech startup has secured new funding that helps lawyers streamline their workflow with the aid of AI. Definely Co-founded in 2017 by CEO Nnamdi Emelifeonwu and Chief Strategy Officer Feargus MacDaeid, Definely offers AI solutions geared toward lawyers, allowing them to create, draft, and review legal documents. The company was named one of the 50 fastest-growin g tech companies in the UK by Deloitte in 2023. “A Microsoft Word add-in, the Definely suite contains a suite of products that help you through the complete pre-execution stage of contract drafting with AI power. Surface precedent clauses, better understand provisions and automate hundreds of your proofreading checks,” its website describes. In a LinkedIn post, Emelifeonwu revealed the platform has more than 100 customers, including BT, IKEA, JPMorgan, DLA Piper and Shoosmiths. $30M Series B With a $30 million Series B funding round led by Revaia with participation from Alumni Ventures, Beacon VC, Clio,...

Jun 12, 2025

Blavity Fest 2025 Boosted Tech With A $5K 'Idea Hour' For Community-Centered Innovation

Blavity Fest 2025 lit up Atlanta, GA’s Lee + White complex last weekend in celebration of Black innovation , cultural expression, and collective wealth-building. Attendees experienced inspiring panel discussions led by experts in entrepreneurship , personal branding, creative development, and financial empowerment, while hands-on workshops offered practical skills in areas including stock trading, book launching, and event planning. The event, held from May 31 to June 1, also featured networking opportunities at community meetups, a Black-owned small business market, and immersive installations designed to spark creativity and connection. The high-energy, high-stakes, and high-impact success of the 2025 Blavity Fest was no accident, as Atlanta is, for the third consecutive year, the nation’s leading hub for Black-owned businesses, as previously reported by AFROTECH™ . According to a LendingTree analysis, nearly 14,000 — or 11.3% of all businesses in the city — are Black-owned as of...

Jun 6, 2025

Workday Faces A Collective Action Lawsuit Over Alleged Age Bias In Its AI Hiring Tools

Workday is at the center of a collective action lawsuit that alleges its artificial intelligence (AI)-powered hiring tools discriminate against applicants over 40 years old, violating the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967. Derek Mobley, a Black, disabled man in his 40s, filed a lawsuit in February 2023, claiming he applied for over 100 jobs without success, according to ITPro. “Despite his qualifications, Mobley was allegedly denied employment for every one of the 100-plus applications that he submitted to companies using Workday’s platform,” the lawsuit states . Workday provides cloud-based software to support businesses’ financial management as well as the hiring process for new employees. Workday’s initial motion to dismiss the case was granted, allowing for amendments to be made. However, the judge later denied its attempt to dismiss the newly amended complaint. A judge ruled on May 16 that Mobley’s age discrimination claims could proceed as a collective action...

Jun 5, 2025

Watch Now: Discover How AI Is Transforming Work And Leadership At AFROTECH™ 2024

Artificial intelligence (AI) is driving a wave of transformation, reshaping how organizations adapt and compete — making it essential to foster a culture of innovation and adaptability to navigate disruption and ensure long-term success. At AFROTECH™ 2024, Temi Soleye, the senior director of learning & performance at Merlin Labs, and Ashley Gatewood, the change & transformation leader at Google, came together to discuss the opportunities and challenges AI presents for businesses, how to lead effective transformations and what it takes to build a future-ready workforce. When it comes to AI and transformation, Soleye noted that AI has productivity tools, such as support for coding and coders — but its challenges and opportunities go hand in hand. “High performance culture depends on the people, but it also depends on the processes and the systems,” Soleye said. Adding that, to streamline workflow, people should consider what the person currently does and how artificial intelligence...

Jun 2, 2025

T.D. Jakes Warns Morris Brown College's 2025 Graduating Class Of AI's Impact — 'It's Totally Impossible To Prepare You For What's Next'

T.D. Jakes stresses that the world as we know it will no longer be the same due to AI. The bishop was the 2025 commencement speaker at Morris Brown College in Atlanta, GA. Among the points addressed in his speech, which lasted over 30 minutes, was the importance of understanding the reality of artificial intelligence (AI) and its permanent impact on the workforce . He emphasized that although it is a “traditional graduation,” the times were changing. “I am honored also to understand what a critical time it is that we are celebrating a traditional graduation in an untraditional time,” T.D. Jakes told the audience, according to Fox 5 Atlanta. “Make no mistake about it that as you go forward from Morris Brown, you go forward to face a world that is different than any age or era or period that we have ever seen in the history of this country. It has not been since Henry Ford discovered the automobile or the Wright brothers the airplane that we have seen the impact of what artificial...

May 28, 2025

An Amazon-Backed AI Model Threatened To Blackmail Engineers

An Amazon-backed AI model threatened to blackmail engineers. In March 2024, Amazon announced a $4 billion investment in Anthropic, according to a news release. Anthropic is a company building frontier artificial intelligence (AI) systems that its leaders believe are safe and reliable, according to its website. One of its technologies is Claude, which is an AI model that has the capabilities of advanced reasoning, vision analysis, code generation, and multilingual processing. The company has been utilizing Amazon Web Services’ tools as its “primary cloud provider for mission critical workloads.” “We have a notable history with Anthropic, together helping organizations of all sizes around the world to deploy advanced generative artificial intelligence applications across their organizations,” Dr. Swami Sivasubramanian, vice president of data and AI at AWS, said in the news release. “Anthropic’s visionary work with generative AI, most recently the introduction of its state-of-the art...

May 27, 2025

Monk Inyang's 1st Street Partnerships Has Teamed Up With Kevin Hart To Ensure No One Is Left Behind In The AI Revolution

Monk Inyang is on a mission to make AI more practical for underserved communities. Within his career trajectory, Inyang has been of service to others. He has worked as an actor, investment salesperson, a researcher on Wall Street, and has also dedicated several years to executive coaching for mid-career Black and Latin professionals, which he shared on the “Black Tech Green Money” podcast hosted by AFROTECH™ Brand Manager Will Lucas. This experience has positioned him to be a more effective leader in his current role as CEO and founder of 1st Street Partnerships, an organization dedicated to providing artificial intelligence (AI) education and training to businesses and communities with a strong emphasis on inclusivity and cultural relevance, its LinkedIn mentions. “We help move people from AI anxiety to AI adoption. And that’s through really culturally resonant community-based education,” Inyang explained on the podcast. Partnering With Kevin Hart’s Coramino Fund 1st Street...

May 27, 2025

Watch Now: Deloitte's Tanneasha Gordon Weighs AI Pros And Cons While Balancing Privacy Innovation And Ethics At AFROTECH™ 2024

Artificial intelligence (AI) now touches nearly every aspect of life — from health care and national security to smartphones and entertainment. At AFROTECH™ 2024 , Tanneasha Gordon , U.S. data and digital trust principal at Deloitte & Touche, joined Jarell Oshodi, privacy executive and counsel, to explore balancing AI innovation with protecting sensitive information and maintaining trust in a data-driven world. Diving deep into ethical frameworks, Gordon described AI as a “broad field of computer science, really focused on designing and deploying systems that mimic human intelligence,” viewing it through three paradigms: Our five senses, creativity, and consciousness. Purchase your ticket to AFROTECH™ Conference 2025 now!   View this post on Instagram   A post shared by AFROTECH (@afro.tech) When asked about AI’s benefits, Gordon pointed to increased productivity, efficiency, and cost savings across individuals and enterprises. However, she highlighted five key risks: Deepfakes and...

May 23, 2025

How Amazon Leaders Nikki Taylor White And Obi Nwigwe Are Contributing To The Company's Workplace Safety

Through their roles, Nikki Taylor White And Obi Nwigwe are improving workplace safety at Amazon. Nikki Taylor White Both share a common mission to bridge the gap in technology and lead by example, with Amazon serving as their home base to pursue this work. White, a Howard University graduate, is the global director of ergonomics within Amazon’s worldwide corporate health and safety organization. Her goals center on improving workplace safety and design on a global scale. “It’s my priority to ensure we follow the hierarchy of controls across the ergonomics spectrum, which starts with eliminating any existing or potential hazards, and we do this by implementing automation and robotics into our processes and workspaces to create safer environments for our employees,” White told AFROTECH™. Obi Nwigwe As for Nwigwe, he serves as a software development manager for Amazon Robotics. He began building smaller-scale systems while pursuing an electrical engineering degree at The University of...

May 22, 2025

Google I/O 2025: AI-Powered 'Flow' Filmmaking App, New Shopping Experience, And More Unveiled

Fans of the 1995 film “Clueless” are likely to fall in love with Google’s artificial intelligence (AI)-powered shopping experience, which is rooted in fresh, accurate data and a passion for fashion. Google I/O 2025 Launched on May 20 at Google I/O 2025 in Silicon Valley, CA, AI Mode combines Gemini capabilities with Google’s Shopping Graph to help customers browse for inspiration, consider options, and narrow down products, according to a news release. The Shopping Graph features over 50 billion constantly updated listings from global retailers and local shops, complete with reviews, prices, color options, and availability. “We’re using AI to help people shop in ways that once seemed impossible,” Lilian Rincon, vice president of consumer shopping product at Google, told AFROTECH™ via email. “Whether you’re trying on millions of items of clothing with our try-on tech, finding exactly what you need in AI Mode, or using agentic checkout to jump on a great price.” A new, experimental...

May 21, 2025

How Amazon Is Championing Black Employees Through Innovations Such As Its First Robot With A Sense Of Touch

As Amazon unveils new technology, it is also proving to be a win for its employees. Vulcan At Amazon’s 2025 Delivering the Future event held May 6–7 in Dortmund, Germany, the company introduced the Vulcan, Amazon’s first robot with a sense of touch. Made possible by an artificial intelligence-powered sensor, it is the first of its kind and is able to use video rather than still images to monitor and control its motions, as noted by Aaron Parness, Amazon’s director of applied science in robotics and artificial intelligence. “We’re at the golden age for robotics. AI is allowing us to develop systems that can interact with the physical world and not just the ones on our screens,” Parness said during the Main Event held at Amazon’s Last Mile Innovation Center. Vulcan will be beneficial to its employees who are fulfilling orders for customers at the company’s facilities thanks to the robot’s ability to pick and stow away 75% of the items stored in the warehouses. “One of the really...

May 19, 2025