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...

Former President Barack Obama has confirmed that the long-awaited Obama Presidential Center in Chicago’s historic Jackson Park will open in June 2026. Speaking during a conversation at the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, AR, on Monday, Dec. 1, Obama narrowed the opening to a specific month but did not give an exact date, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. “We’re going to open in June so that y’all don’t have to bring your coats up,” he said, per the outlet, bringing some clarity to a project that has been over a decade in the making. The Obama Presidential Center, first announced in 2015, was originally expected to open in 2021. Construction was delayed multiple times due to federal reviews and legal challenges, with groundbreaking only beginning in 2021. According to the Chicago Sun-Times, the $800 million center, which is now on track to be the most expensive presidential center in U.S. history, spans 20 acres, and features a 225-foot museum tower, an...

Netflix has announced a $72 billion deal, to acquire Warner Bros., valuing it at $82.7 billion including debt, as AFROTECH™ previously reported. The transaction is anticipated to impact both the entertainment and technology sectors. Since the news broke, some observers, according to Fortune, have raised concerns about its impact on Hollywood, while analysts point to artificial intelligence and high-performance computing as key factors. Melissa Otto, head of research at S&P Global Visible Alpha, told the outlet that discussions of the deal often overlook the role of Google and its tensor processing unit (or TPU) chips. TPUs, as Exhibit Magazine notes, are custom chips designed specifically for deep learning tasks. “What TPU chips do really, really well is in the modality of video in generative AI,” Otto said, explaining that they essentially turn mathematical representations into moving pictures in much the same way graphics processing units, or GPUs, revolutionized natural language...

The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), the world’s largest HR organization, has been hit with an $11.5 million ruling after a former employee accused the group of racial discrimination and retaliation. A Colorado jury found SHRM liable on Dec. 5, 2025, and awarded $1.5 million in compensatory damages and $10 million in punitive damages to Rehab Mohamed, Business Insider (BI) reports . “We are very happy that the jury spent a week listening very closely to the evidence and that they decided, as a result, to hold SHRM accountable,” said Mohamed’s attorney, Ariel DeFazio, per BI. The verdict will “send a message to workplaces in the entire country,” she added. The Reason Behind SHRM’s Employee Lawsuit Mohamed, who worked as an instructional designer from 2016 to 2020, filed her lawsuit against SHRM in 2022. She accused a white supervisor of racial discrimination and claimed SHRM retaliated after she reported the behavior, per BI. Mohamed said she repeatedly raised concerns...

A major new investment from billionaire Michael Bloomberg is helping expand educational access for Black students through a partnership that brings K–12 learning directly to the campuses of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU). Bloomberg Philanthropies, together with the national education organization City Fund, has committed $20 million ($10 million each) to support public charter schools and connect students with early college opportunities at nearby HBCUs, according to a press release. The United Negro College Fund (UNCF) will be a key partner in the effort. Forbes notes that the new funding supports two schools in Alabama’s Black Belt region, an area historically underserved in public education. The first is the D.C. Wolfe Charter School in Shorter, a redevelopment of the former D.C. Wolfe Elementary School that is expected to open in fall 2026, just minutes from Tuskegee University. The second, I Dream Big Academy, opened in August 2025 on the campus of Stillman...

As AI continues to spread across the United States and its influence shows no signs of fading, several Democratic lawmakers reintroduced the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Civil Rights Act on Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2025. Senator Edward J. Markey (D-MA) first introduced the AI Civil Rights Act in 2024 to “establish protections for individual rights with respect to computational algorithms, and for other purposes,” The Grio reports . On Dec. 2, the progressive senator explained that AI tools are “biased against marginalized communities,” per the outlet. “We must address AI-powered bias and discrimination in the AI age,” Markey said in a news release shared on Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley’s website. “Under the AI Civil Rights Act, America would show leadership in AI — not just technological leadership, but moral leadership ,” he continued . “We cannot abandon our principles in reckless pursuit of technological superiority. Otherwise, we risk building a future where innovation races ahead,...

Kristen Wells-Collins is inspiring young girls to become chemists. Wells-Collins was raised in an under-resourced community in Beaumont, TX, and said she had limited exposure to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), according to her commentary on “The Jennifer Hudson Show.” However, Wells-Collins went on to pursue a degree in chemistry at Prairie View A&M University, according to her LinkedIn . After her studies, she became exposed to cosmetic chemistry and was immediately hooked . Black To The Lab Wells-Collins’s interest in STEM has led her to become a cosmetic chemist educator and founder of Black to the Lab, which provides an activity kit with hands-on learning experiences for girls to create lip gloss, body scrubs, lotion, and more. She is driven by a mission to increase representation in the field among Black girls, she told Jennifer Hudson. PC: Black to the Lab “We know that they know makeup, so they know science. We want young girls to know that their...

The New York Times reported on Friday, Dec. 5, 2025, that it has filed a lawsuit against AI start-up Perplexity for alleged copyright infringement. According to the media company, Perplexity continues to use its content despite multiple requests over the past 18 months to stop until an agreement can be reached. Founded in 2022 by former OpenAI engineer Aravind Srinivas and other entrepreneurs, Perplexity is a free AI-powered answer engine that aims to provide “accurate, trusted, and real-time answers to any question,” according to its website. Filed in a New York federal court, the suit claims Perplexity’s search engine pulls large portions of information from The Times’ website or database to generate responses for users, which goes beyond fair use by offering content that directly competes with the newspaper. “Perplexity provides commercial products to its own users that substitute for The Times, without permission or remuneration,” the suit said, per The Times. The Times also...

A new cohort of small businesses has received a financial boost to power their business with AI. The C oramino Fund Through The Coramino Fund, the investment arm of Kevin Hart and Juan Domingo Beckmann’s tequila company Gran Coramino, $10,000 grants have been allocated to small business owners over the past three years so they can utilize AI training provided by 1st Street Partnerships to improve their operations. The program was launched in partnership with Local Initiatives Support Corp. (LISC) and is part of a $1.5 million commitment to support more than 150 under-resourced entrepreneurs across the U.S. and Mexico as they compete with larger companies, according to information provided to AFROTECH™. “According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, about 20% of new businesses fail within their first year, and nearly 50% fail by their fifth year. The most successful entrepreneurs — locally and nationally — are the ones that have support, whether from their networks, communities,...

Beyoncé’s partnership with Levi’s is delivering strong returns. “Cowboy Carter,” the eighth studio album from the Houston-born singer, was released on March 29, 2024. It debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 , and Beyoncé won Best Country Album and Album of the Year at the 2025 Grammy Awards, according to The New York Times. Among the tracks listed on the album is “Levii’s Jeans” featuring Post Malone. Six months after the single’s release, a global partnership between iconic denim brand Levi’s and Beyoncé was announced and has been faring well. As AFROTECH™ previously reported, the company’s stock rose by 20% one week after “Levii’s Jeans” was released, leading to a surge in sales of its denim skirts and pants. “One of the things that really is significant about the Levi’s brand, and we place a lot of emphasis and investment, is making sure that Levi’s brand remains in the center of culture,” Levi Strauss CEO Michelle Gass previously shared with CBS News. “And I don’t think there’s...

Multiple financial developments have occurred across Africa’s tech ecosystem as 2025 comes to a close. Two African fintech startups, Optasia in South Africa and Cash Plus in Morocco, completed initial public offerings (IPOs) in November 2025, according to Max Cuvellier Giacomelli, co-founder of Africa: The Big Deal. In a Substack post, he further noted that these were the first major technology listings on the continent since 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic. According to Business Insider Africa, Optasia was listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange on Nov. 4, raising $345 million and reaching a $1.4 billion valuation. The company, as its website states, offers AI-driven financial services delivered through mobile networks and digital channels across several markets: Africa, the Middle East, Asia, Europe, and Latin America. Three weeks later, on Nov. 25, Morocco’s Cash Plus went public on the Casablanca Stock Exchange. The company, as Giacomelli noted, raised $82.5 million in its...

Free agent Odell Beckham Jr. is speaking out after comments he made about managing a five-year, $100 million NFL contract ignited conversation online. The wide-ranging discussion began in October during an episode of “The Pivot Podcast,” where Beckham outlined why a contract of that size may not last as long as it appears once expenses are taken into account. The wide receiver, who was drafted No. 12 overall by the New York Giants in 2014, went on to play for the Cleveland Browns and Las Angeles Rams. Beckham last played for the Miami Dolphins before he became a free agent in 2024. According to Spotrac, his total career earnings sit at $102 million. His podcast remarks resurfaced this week and drew reactions from fans, commentators, and former players. On Tuesday, Dec. 2, Beckham posted a response to the attention on X. “Boy u can’t say nothin in this world nowadays, that’s why I been in my own lane my own world n put the way,” he wrote. “People love to take Shxt completely outta...

Netflix’s latest deal marks a significant update in the entertainment landscape. In a press release, Netflix confirmed it has agreed to purchase Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. in a deal with a total enterprise value of approximately $82.7 billion ( equity value of $72.0 billion). The agreement, approved unanimously by the boards of directors of both companies, states that the acquisition includes Warner Bros.’ film and television studios, HBO Max, and HBO, but not Discovery. The deal is projected to be finalized in the third quarter of 2026 as Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. separates Discovery Global, its Global Networks division, into a new publicly traded company. Greg Peters, co-CEO of Netflix, noted in the press release that the acquisition will position the company to reach a broader audience while scaling its business model in the decades ahead, ensuring customers have an optimal streaming service and improving the entertainment landscape, which will also benefit shareholders....

iHeartRadio is making its stance loud and clear when it comes to AI’s use on its platform. According to Billboard, Tom Poleman, iHeartRadio’s chief programming officer and president, said in a letter that the company will not be using AI-generated personalities or “play AI music that features synthetic vocalists pretending to be human.” Additionally, its podcasts published will follow this new program, “Guaranteed Human,” as well. “…iHeart is one of the last truly human entertainment sources and our listeners come to us for companionship, connection, and authenticity — something AI can’t replicate,” Poleman said. The announcement comes at a time when AI artists are making waves in the music industry, including Solomon Ray, an AI-generated “Mississippi-made soul singer,” with an EP called “A Soulful Christmas,” Christian Today reports. Christopher “Topher” Townsend, a conservative Hip-Hop artist, is the human behind Solomon Ray. The AI artist he created has garnered more than 324,000...

AT&T has adjusted its policies around diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). According to a Dec. 1 letter shared on X, the company had been examining recent executive orders, Supreme Court rulings, and direction from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). This has informed AT&T’s decision to dismantle “DEI-related policies.” The company also stated plainly that it “does not and will not have any roles focused on DEI.” The letter further said AT&T will remove DEI training and career development as well as internal and external messaging to comply with the EEOC. “AT&T has always stood for merit-based opportunity, and we are pleased to reaffirm our commitment to equal employment opportunity and nondiscrimination today,” the letter mentioned. “Consistent with applicable law, our multi-pronged approach allows employees to thrive in an environment free from invidious discrimination.” AT&T’s announcement follows its November 2024 agreement to purchase wireless spectrum...