TULSA, Okla., Sept. 3, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Black Tech Street has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with NVIDIA to advance Tulsa, Oklahoma (Historic Greenwood) as a model for AI innovation, education and economic empowerment. Black Tech Street is an organization working to rebirth Historic Black Wall Street as a premier Innovation Economy rooted in Artificial Intelligence and Cybersecurity.
Black Tech Street is a steering committee member of Tulsa’s Tech Hub coalition led by Tulsa Innovation Labs, which saw Tulsa designated as a Tech Hub for Autonomous Systems by the Economic Development Administration. Tulsa’s Tech Hub won $51 million with $10.6 million being allocated to the creation of a Greenwood AI Center of Excellence led by Black Tech Street.
Through this collaboration, BTS and NVIDIA will partner with the Tech Hub, the local community, and the State of Oklahoma to integrate NVIDIA’s cutting-edge technologies and expertise and train up to 10,000 learners in partnership with educational institutions and community organizations.
“We could not be more excited to partner with NVIDIA to make Tulsa a national leader on AI. NVIDIA is powering the AI revolution, which will likely be the most impactful leap in human history. To have them standing with us in Greenwood, committing to help our community harness and lead this revolution, means more than I can articulate. A game changing win for Black Wall Street,” said BTS Founder & CEO Tyrance Billingsley II.
“Our collaboration with BTS and the larger Tulsa ecosystem is helping prepare and equip all segments of the workforce to operate and sustain transformative technology that is building America’s future,” said Louis Stewart, Head of Ecosystem Development at NVIDIA.
Defined objectives of the collaboration include:
- Expansion of AI Education: Empower the greater Tulsa region with advanced AI skills through comprehensive educational programs with the local community and higher education institutions like Langston University, Oklahoma State University and Tulsa Community College.
- Economic Empowerment: Catalyze economic growth in the Greenwood District by supporting tech startups and creating high-paying jobs in the AI sector.
- National Model for AI-Powered Society: Establishing Tulsa, via Greenwood, as a national model and testing ground for community AI integration and innovation.
Both parties recognize the importance of a collaborative approach and intend to provide resources that maximize the impact of this collaboration. Some of the direct resource sharing and commitments from NVIDIA listed in the MOU include:
- Leveraging local networks to recruit entrepreneurs, technologists, and students to participate in NVIDIA’s training and certification programs, encouraging broad-based community.
- Organizing and hosting community events, such as hackathons, innovation challenges, and tech fairs, to raise awareness and encourage participation in the effort.
- Offering advanced computing resources, including access to NVIDIA GPUs and cloud-based platforms to support the development of AI projects and startups with BTS and the Tulsa ecosystem.
- Collaborating with Black Tech Street to pursue Federal, State, Local and Philanthropic grants that fund groundbreaking research projects, talent development initiatives, novel AI applications and impactful economic development initiatives.
- Providing Greenwood and the greater Tulsa area with access to NVIDIA’s startup ecosystem, including the benefits of its Inception program, to accelerate local innovation and growth.
“I am incredibly excited to see these two organizations come together to position Tulsa as a leader in AI innovation. As AI continues to grow, this partnership will help cement Tulsa’s role in the AI and tech industry, which will generate an economic impact that we will see for years to come,” Mayor Monroe Nichols said. “NVIDIA and Black Tech Street are setting the stage for new jobs for Tulsans, and I am eager to see how this investment in innovation will open more doors of opportunity for our community.” – Tulsa Mayor, Monroe Nichols
This MOU starts with Tulsa and builds the cornerstone for statewide expansion and partnership that spans to the larger State of Oklahoma as a leader in AI education and Innovation.
“Oklahoma is fast becoming a national leader in next-generation innovation, from AI to aerospace and beyond. Our state’s unique combination of talent, tenacity, and vision is attracting groundbreaking partnerships. Whether it’s in Tulsa or across the state, Oklahoma is proving that you don’t have to be on the coasts to be on the cutting edge.” – Senator James Langford
The execution of the MOU will be supported by Black Tech Street’s partners at Tulsa Innovation Labs, Microsoft, Seedai, Langston University, Tulsa Economic Development Corporation, Urban Coders Guild, and Tulsa Higher Education Consortium.
Through this initiative, educators can gain certification through the NVIDIA Deep Learning Institute University Ambassador Program, which connects instructors with high-quality teaching kits, workshop content and NVIDIA GPU-accelerated workstations in the cloud.
About Black Tech Street
Black Tech Street is an organization working to rebirth historic Greenwood as a premier innovation economy rooted in AI, Cybersecurity and Emerging Technologies. Black Tech Street’s goal is to a pioneer a scalable model for AI adoption and innovation that enables the United States to win the AI Race.
About NVIDIA
NVIDIA is the global leader in accelerated computing. Founded in 1993, the company’s invention of the GPU sparked the growth of the PC gaming market and has redefined modern computer graphics, high-performance computing, and artificial intelligence.
Media Contact:
Smiley Elmore III
Director of Communications
Black Tech Street
[email protected] | 918-813-2733
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SOURCE Black Tech Street
