Brownsville’s AI Factory: A Local Hub for Smart City Innovation

As part of a broader smart city transformation, the city of Brownsville has launched an in-house AI Factory aimed at improving real-time public safety monitoring, traffic control and city operations.

In an interview with Industry Insider — Texas, CIO Jorge Cardenas explained how the AI Factory fits into the city’s infrastructure road map, what use cases it will support first, and why the model could be replicated across other midsized cities.

The initiative builds on years of groundwork. Before Cardenas joined the city three and a half years ago, Brownsville had been named one of the worst-connected cities in the nation by the National Digital Inclusion Alliance. That designation motivated Cardenas and the city to make major investments in its infrastructure.

“The city used $19.5 million of ARPA [American Rescue Plan Act] funds to lay the foundation of middle-mile fiber throughout the city,” said Cardenas. “We brought a partner to bridge that gap of connectivity, and now there we have over 5,000 customers connected to our private 5G network.”

The private 5G network, launched in fall 2025 thanks to a partnership with NTT Data, is fully owned and operated by the city. It enables secure, high-speed connectivity for smart city infrastructure without relying on commercial carriers.

“Our new network is more than a signal boost. It’s the foundation for a smarter, safer, and more connected Brownsville,” Cardenas wrote in a LinkedIn post. “It builds on the more than 100 miles of fiber we’ve laid across the city and powers everything from smart cameras and sensors to Wi-Fi in our parks and public spaces.”

In a statement to Industry Insider — Texas, NTT Data Managing Director of Public Sector Growth Cathy LoDuca praised Cardenas for his strategic direction and commitment to innovation.

“Under Jorge Cardenas’ visionary leadership, Brownsville is setting a new standard for connected cities,” LoDuca said. “At NTT DATA, we are proud to partner with the city to deliver advanced 5G network capabilities that expand connectivity, enable smart city innovation, and drive inclusive growth. Together, we’re building a digital foundation that positions Brownsville as a national model for next-generation community connectivity.”

That digital foundation now supports what Cardenas calls the city’s “smart platform,” including the AI Factory, which processes data from sensors, traffic cameras, transit systems and other sources.

The first department to benefit from the AI Factory will be public safety, including police and emergency services. The platform can flag suspicious behavior or threats during large public events by scanning crowds in real time.

“We can tell the AI Factory to say, ‘look for people with weapons … aggressive behavior … people climbing walls … illegal dumping,’” Cardenas said. “Those are the things that happen in big events.”

In parallel, the city is integrating AI into its intelligent traffic system. Cameras and sensors installed at intersections will feed data to the AI Factory, which can identify wrong-way driving, traffic congestion or malfunctioning signals in real time. This data will allow the city to dynamically adjust signal timing, reduce delays and improve roadway safety.

“We’re going to place camera sensors in every intersection and utilize our AI Factory to process that information,” Cardenas said. “[The AI Factory] will tell us to synchronize the traffic lights, let us know what is happening in every intersection and also let us know the traffic patterns.”

Cardenas also described use cases at the Brownsville airport, including perimeter security and foreign object detection on runways. Cameras connected to the AI Factory will notify airport personnel in real time if vehicles linger in drop-off zones or if individuals enter restricted areas.

Additionally, with Brownsville located near the U.S.-Mexico border, the platform is being used to combat stolen vehicles attempting to cross internationally.

“Every camera will be turned into a license plate reader,” Cardenas said. “We will make sure that police department has everything tied into their database and receives alerts when they see, ‘This white SUV does not match the license plate — it is a Corolla.’”

Cardenas emphasized that although the platform ingests vast amounts of sensor and camera data, it does not store personal information. The AI Factory performs real-time analysis and issues alerts, but the information is only processed as a pass-through; video is retained only in a secure, containerized environment accessible by authorized city staff.

“The AI Factory will not retain or store any information other than providing the alert,” he said. “We do not want to have anything stored by the AI. It’s just a pass-through analytical filter to provide the information that we want. There will be no facial recognition, nothing like that.”

Cardenas believes the Brownsville model could benefit other midsized cities that lack the resources to build out AI platforms independently. He hopes to share compute capacity with nearby jurisdictions through interlocal agreements.

“My goal here in Brownsville was to build an AI Factory for us, but allow our neighbor cities to leverage that AI Factory so they can use our compute power to do the things that they want to do, but just cannot afford,” he said.

Ultimately, Cardenas sees the AI Factory as a centralized digital intelligence system for the city.

“That’s really what the AI Factory is — it’s the brain … your informant,” he said. “I can tell it, ‘I want you to look at that at all times and tell me what is happening.’”

“This right here can definitely be replicated … if cities work together.”