President Donald Trump is placing guardrails around AI’s influence across states. He has signed an executive order that will introduce a “single national framework” for AI, according to CNN. This will also limit the states from placing their own regulations on the technology. The executive order states, “to win, United States AI companies must be free to innovate without cumbersome regulation. But excessive State regulation thwarts this imperative,” CNBC reports. This comes at a time when tech leaders, including OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, have been adamant that state regulations would limit the nation’s AI race against China and slow progress altogether, per CNN. “This is an executive order that orders aspects of your administration to take decisive action to ensure that AI can operate within a single national framework in this country, as opposed to being subject to state-level regulation that could potentially cripple the industry,” White House aide Will Scharf said of the executive...

Michael Jordan and other team owners have officially reached a settlement with NASCAR in a federal antitrust case. Jordan made history in 2020 when he joined Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin to launch a NASCAR team with Bubba Wallace as the driver. He became the first Black owner of a full-time team in the league’s premier series since Hall of Famer Wendell Scott, according to a press release. Jordan is no stranger to team ownership, having previously served as the majority owner of the Charlotte Hornets from 2010 to 2023, as AFROTECH™ previously reported. His interest in NASCAR was planted during his childhood in North Carolina. “Growing up in North Carolina, my parents would take my brothers, sisters, and me to races, and I’ve been a NASCAR fan my whole life,” Jordan said in the news release. “The opportunity to own my own racing team in partnership with my friend, Denny Hamlin, and to have Bubba Wallace driving for us, is very exciting for me. Historically, NASCAR has struggled...

The Walt Disney Co. is making a $1 billion equity investment in OpenAI following a major deal where both companies commit to the responsible use of AI that protects user safety and creator rights. Announced by both companies on Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025, the three-year licensing deal aims to advance human-centered AI and respectful storytelling by bringing Disney characters into Sora, OpenAI’s text-to-video model that generates realistic, animated videos from text descriptions. “Technological innovation has continually shaped the evolution of entertainment, bringing with it new ways to create and share great stories with the world,” Robert A. Iger, CEO of The Walt Disney Co., said in a statement. “The rapid advancement of artificial intelligence marks an important moment for our industry, and through this collaboration with OpenAI , we will thoughtfully and responsibly extend the reach of our storytelling through generative AI , while respecting and protecting creators and their...

Fintech platform Esusu has raised new funding to help improve financial outcomes for Americans. The company was founded in 2018 by Wemimo Abbey and Samir Goel (co-CEOs) to help people boost their credit scores. Its inspiration came from their own struggles because both grew up in immigrant families with limited financial resources. “When we came here, we didn’t have a credit score. We went to one of the biggest financial institutions to borrow money; we were turned away and had to go borrow from a predatory lender who wanted to lend at over 400% interest rate,” Abbey told CNBC, referring to his family’s experience. This inspired Esusu’s mission to help ensure race, background, or zip code is not a barrier to economic mobility. Its platform can report on-time rent payments to credit bureaus such as TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian, its website mentions. Esusu states that when more renters see their scores increase, they are more likely to remain on top of monthly payments, renew...

Every year, YouTube releases its list of top creators and offers a cultural snapshot of what captured our attention. It reflects who shaped the jokes we repeated, the challenges we tried, the music we streamed, and the digital worlds we escaped into. The 2025 list does all of that, but it also exposes a clear reality. Out of the 10 most influential creators of the entire year, only two Black creators appear: IShowSpeed and CoryxKenshin. In a landscape powered by massive digital audiences, global fandoms, and billion-view moments, their inclusion carries weight. The absence of more Black peers also raises important questions. However, their rise demonstrates what Black creators continue to accomplish, even within an industry that often overlooks their contributions. View this post on Instagram What The 2025 Top Creators List Reveals About YouTube According to YouTube’s official 2025 Trending report, the platform has entered a new moment in which creators shape pop culture in real...

A newly founded AI startup is making waves in the tech world with one of the largest seed rounds in recent memory. According to Bloomberg, Unconventional AI, launched just two months ago by former Databricks AI lead Naveen Rao, secured $475 million in seed funding at a $4.5 billion valuation to develop a new generation of energy-efficient computers designed specifically for artificial intelligence. The funding round was co-led by Andreessen Horowitz and Lightspeed Venture Partners, with participation from Lux Capital, DCVC, Databricks, and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, per Bloomberg. Rao also invested $10 million of his own funds on the same terms as other investors. The company is exploring a larger funding goal of up to $1 billion, according to TechCrunch. Bloomberg notes that Unconventional AI draws inspiration from biology, where living systems must operate within strict energy limits yet achieve high efficiency. Rao highlighted the human brain as an example, noting it can perform...

Paramount has placed an all-cash bid for Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. (WBD). As AFROTECH™ previously reported, WBD had reached an agreement with Netflix to be acquired for a total enterprise value of $82.7 billion ( equity value of $72.0 billion). The deal would include Warner Bros.’ film and television studios, HBO Max, and HBO, but not Discovery or its cable networks such as CNN and TNT, per NBC News. The deal was approved unanimously by both companies’ board of directors. However, for the acquisition to be finalized, it would require approval from the Justice Department’s antitrust division and, likely, the European Commission and other governments globally, notes NBC News. President Donald Trump has shared his thoughts on the matter, per the outlet, stating, “Well, that’s got to go through a process, and we’ll see what happens. They have a very big market share. When they have Warner Bros., that share goes up a lot.” Paramount has now also placed a bid to purchase WBD. According...

Grambling State University (GSU) criminal justice major Janiah Tims graduated on Friday, Dec. 5, 2025, with a decorated resume — and a graduation cap to match. With a 3.94 GPA, Tims graduated as valedictorian and the highest-ranking student of GSU’s Fall 2025 class, Grambling State News reports . She completed her degree in just two and a half years, having entered college with 21 dual-enrollment credits earned while attending Bastrop High School in Bastrop, LA. Although the curriculum was “pretty hard,” Tims said it helped prepare her for success as she arrived at the Historically Black College and University, per the outlet. “I was really doing the same kind of work in the dual enrollment courses that I ended up doing in college,” Tims told Grambling State News. “So there really wasn’t a big difference.” Tims said she completed most of her core college requirements through dual enrollment, including English 101 and 102, History 101 and 102, Music Appreciation, and Psychology 102....

Avante Price and Eli Taylor-Lemire are finding great success with their live events platform, POSH. The pair were students at New York University (NYU) and met while working at events. Price was a DJ, and Taylor-Lemire was a photographer. During an interview with Forbes, Price shared that the pair initially worked with other event brands geared towards college students, who he claims were missing the mark. POSH The founders believed they could create a solution that would provide a better overall event experience for students and organizers, which led to the formation of the live events platform POSH. Though the platform was initially built in 2019 as a software product to benefit the pair directly, it launched to the public in 2023 along with a mobile app. “POSH at the onset was just an IRL events company for NYU and Columbia kids to have a posh upscale experience,” Price told Forbes. “We got a lot of different experience with Eventbrite or these other products that existed at the...

A major technology deal is set to reshape how enterprises manage and use real-time data. According to a press release, International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) and Confluent announced that IBM will acquire all outstanding Confluent shares for $31 each, a transaction that values the data-streaming company at $11 billion. Based in Mountain View, CA, Confluent provides an open-source platform that enables real-time data streaming, helping businesses process, connect, and manage data across applications and systems. The company serves more than 6,500 clients — including over 40% of the Fortune 500 — and integrates with major cloud providers such as AWS , Microsoft, and others, according to the press release. “IBM and Confluent together will enable enterprises to deploy generative and agentic AI more effectively by providing trusted communication and data flow across environments, applications, and APIs,” said Arvind Krishna, IBM chairman, president, and CEO, in the press release....

The gift that keeps on giving, MacKenzie Scott, has made another contribution to an HBCU. As previously reported by AFROTECH™ , the philanthropist, who acquired the vast majority of her $35 billion net worth following a divorce from Amazon Founder Jeff Bezos, has donated millions to various Historically Black Colleges and Universities. She was inspired to give to others by the late author Toni Morrison, who was her teacher and mentor. After Scott became a billionaire, she pledged to give half her wealth away and signed The Giving Pledge. Some of her investments in higher education this year alone include: Voorhees University ($19 million) Howard University ($80 million) Spelman College ($38 million) Morgan State University ($63 million) Norfolk State University ($50 million) Winston-Salem State University ($50 million) North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University ($63 million) Prairie View A&M University ($63 million) Dillard University ($19 million) “This gift is more...

Tyler, the Creator was recognized in Hollywood on Dec. 6 as Variety presented him with its Innovator of the Decade award during the publication’s annual Hitmakers event. The honor marked a moment of reflection for the artist, who spoke about his 15-year career while accepting the award. According to Variety, he was surprised when he was informed he had been selected and noted that the news made him think about the artists he has long considered innovators, including Stevie Wonder, Missy Elliott, Kanye West, and Pharrell Williams. “It made me think like, ‘Yo, I don’t take the time out to look back at what I’ve done, for me, the folks around me, for the last 15 years. For me, always looking forward, me always wondering what the next thing is — that’s where I sit comfortable at,” he told attendees, per the outlet. André 3000 presented the Innovator of the Decade award and highlighted Tyler, the Creator’s influence across multiple creative fields. He noted Tyler, the Creator’s...

NFL legends Marshawn Lynch and Michael Robinson have partnered with Pine Sports, a sports-focused AI startup that has rapidly grown its community of bettors and fantasy players since launching in 2020. A key part of the partnership is Jaxon, Pine’s proprietary large language model — likened to OpenAI’s ChatGPT but built specifically for sports betting and fantasy, according to a news release shared with AFROTECH™. Beta-launched in 2024, Jaxon is trained exclusively on Pine’s sports data and live markets, blending data , sportsbook integrations, and advanced analytics to deliver actionable insights in seconds. “This is dope, it’s taken me a minute to fully grasp all that AI can do and be, but this right here… is a no brainer,” Lynch said in a statement. “I see what Pine’s doing with Jaxon, and I’m with it, why wouldn’t you use something that helps you play smarter, ya’ know what I mean?” Robinson added, “This tech is real. Fans want quick, smart answers. They want to know what...

Elaine Welteroth, journalist and founder of nonprofit birthFUND, wants people to help Black women and women of color access supportive birth care. In a viral TikTok video reportedly captured in the triage area of Dallas Regional Medical Center in Mesquite, TX, patient Karrie Jones is asked a series of questions, such as her due date, by a white nurse while Jones is sitting in a wheelchair in pain, minutes away from giving birth, per NBC News. Jones supposedly had to wait more than half an hour before being admitted to the hospital. Less than a week later, a separate viral video showed an incident of reported negligence in Franciscan Hospital in Crown Point, IL, with patient Mercedes Wells, notes NBC News. She was experiencing contractions, which she told the outlet meant she wouldn’t be far from delivering. However, she spent six hours at the hospital and was reportedly never seen by a doctor, just a nurse, and was sent home. Within eight minutes of leaving the hospital, her...

A major technology foundation is distributing funding to nonprofit organizations across the United States this year. According to a press release, the OpenAI Foundation announced $40.5 million in unrestricted grants to 208 nonprofits across the country. The awards support organizations working in AI literacy and public understanding, community innovation, and economic opportunity. Some of the grantees include STEM From Dance, which partners with schools, community centers, and youth programs to integrate dance and AI education for young girls of color across several states. Digital NEST in California is a workforce development nonprofit helping youth in agricultural communities gain career skills, mentorship, training, and paid work experience to thrive in the digital economy. 3 Dots Downtown, a community arts center in Pennsylvania, offers programs and workshops focused on AI literacy, art, and professional development. And Amigos Together for Kids in Florida supports parents and...