Technology

The Fayetteville City Council voted 7-0 Tuesday to prohibit the purchase and use of automatic license plate readers, including Flock Safety cameras, which city police do not currently use.

Bentonville-based Kwema's Smart Badge Reel lets workers discreetly call for help. Founder Ali Al Jabry discusses the device, named Outstanding New Security Product at the 2026 U.S. OSPAs.

The Fort Smith School Board decided to join federal litigation against Meta, Google, TikTok and Snap Inc., which claims the companies designed products to encourage compulsive use among minors.

Arkansas Advocate editor-in-chief Andrew DeMillo discusses Bentonville's new health campus, school letter grades and why Arkansas should regulate AI like social media.

The Rev. Tasha Blackburn previews the King Speaker Series talk by "Reconnected" author Carlos Whittaker, who spent seven weeks off screens at a monastery and an Amish farm. Sept. 18 in Fort Smith.

Rodrigo Zamith, co-author of "Journalism in the Age of AI," says the bigger risk isn't AI replacing reporters. It's AI undermining the economics that pay for local news.

Fayetteville's City Council voted 7-0 Tuesday to add noise limits, water and energy caps and stiffer penalties to its data center ordinance. Council member Scott Berna calls it model legislation.

Kinetic warns of rising copper theft in Northwest Arkansas, causing internet and phone outages. The company is offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to arrests.

UofA professor Marco Dehnert researches how people build relationships with AI, from grief bots that mimic the dead to companion apps selling what he calls on demand intimacy.

Swarm Aero, a drone manufacturer with operations in Fayetteville, has secured more than $10 million in Air Force Research Laboratory contracts to help build aircraft parts for the Air Force.