WRAL TechWire

The NCSU INDEX OF NORTH CAROLINA LEADING ECONOMIC INDICATORS (the “Index”), an indicator of the direction of the state economy in the upcoming months, dropped 0.5% in May, the latest month with available data. This was the third consecutive monthly drop in the Index. While this trend is cause for concern, the above graph shows the recent retreat has been of the “drip, drip” nature, rather than a plunge.

DURHAM — The fourth annual Grep-a-plooza kicked off with enthusiasm on Thursday morning as Joe Colopy, the GrepBeat “Godfather,” took the stage. A vocal crowd was on hand to welcome the former Bronto CEO as he introduced the day’s keynote speaker, North Carolina’s first Deputy Chief of Policy and AI, I-Sah Hsieh.

RTP — According to Gallup’s recent State of the Global Workspace Report, remote workers are more likely to be engaged but less likely to be thriving.

DURHAM — NC TECH took over the Durham Convention Center for their annual State of Tech EXPONENTIAL on Thursday with a clear focus: AI. The event opened on a keynote by Matt Lyeston, IBM’s CIO of Technology Platforms, with a frank look at how to improve the so-far disappointing return on investment of AI implementations. Breakout sessions followed, covering topics including AI agents, the levels and phases of AI and LLM adoption, and ethical AI.

The NCSU INDEX OF NORTH CAROLINA LEADING ECONOMIC INDICATORS (the “Index”), an indicator of the direction of the state economy in the upcoming months, retreated by 2.1% in March, the latest month with available data. This drop occurred after a noticeable increase in the Index during February. The pullback was led by a significant decline in building permits and a continued drop in the national leading index.

DURHAM — The All Things Open conference has become a mainstay for the Raleigh area, drawing an international crowd each fall to discuss open source technologies and implementation. Next week, this event officially expands into the world of artificial intelligence with a new two-day, AI-dedicated event taking place at the Carolina Theater in Durham.

RALEIGH — Raleigh Founded‘s North Street location was filled for last night’s State of the Region address. Entrepreneurs, start-up founders and those that support them were all in attendance for the 8th annual event, featuring remarks by Tom Snyder, executive director of RIoT. “I think it’s a great opportunity for everyone to touch base and take stock,” Snyder said.

The NCSU INDEX OF NORTH CAROLINA LEADING ECONOMIC INDICATORS (the  “Index”), an indicator of the direction of the North Carolina economy in the upcoming months, decreased by 0.2%  in December, the latest month with available data. For the entire year of 2024, measured from December  2023 to December 2024, the Index dropped 4.8%. It is important to emphasize a reduction in the Index does not necessarily predict a recession. Indeed, the national leading index has also been trending lower.

RALEIGH — When DeepSeek, a Chinese artificial intelligence company, released their new R1 model on January 20, it took some time for the rest of the industry to mark its impact. While many tech giants were proudly sharing their multi-billion dollar investments in AI model development and infrastructure, China had quietly built a new reasoning model rivaling OpenAI’s offering for a measly $5.567 million.

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