The Early Word: xAI powers up, and parts of Liberty Stadium come down
Good morning, Memphis. It’s Tuesday, July 23, and I’m glad to be waking up with you after a long vacation weekend. Thanks to Holly Whitfield for filling in on Monday.
The Memphis City Council is expected to take the second of three votes on a ballot referendum to add two suburban voting positions to Memphis Light, Gas and Water’s board. At the Bartlett Board of Mayor and Aldermen meeting tonight, there’s a public hearing on a new residential development planned for an area near New Brownsville Road and Springtree Drive.
Elon Musk’s xAI supercomputer is up and running, according to a social media post from its billionaire founder. It includes 100,000 Nvidia H100 chips, and it’s being used to train Grok, the rival chatbot to ChatGPT. Musk, who also owns the X social media site, made a number of posts about xAI’s progress on Monday morning, including this slightly unhinged tweet: “Join @xAI (or @X ) to help build maximally truth-seeking & curious AI to understand the nature of the Universe!” In other xAI news, the company could possibly go in on a joint greywater plant with Memphis Light, Gas and Water — if the timeline is right.
The renovation work at Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium officially entered phase two on Monday. That means, over the next three weeks, much of the west side of the stadium will be demolished, temporarily dropping capacity by several thousand seats. Seating will be readded during the rebuild, which also includes a party deck for fans. The University of Memphis reported on Monday that it’s very close to meeting its fundraising goal for the project. The Daily Memphian’s ever-hopeful Geoff Calkins says the changes — while about a decade late — could still mean “a brighter future” for the Memphis Tigers.
Plus, the Shelby County Commission voted in a new leader, Front Street Deli reopens again and the Grizzlies can’t take the Heat.
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Bianca Phillips
Bianca Phillips is a Northeast Arkansas native and longtime Memphian who’s worked in local journalism and PR for more than 20 years. In her days as a reporter, she covered everything from local government and crime to LGBTQ issues and the arts. She’s the author of “Cookin Crunk: Eatin’ Vegan in the Dirty South,” a cookbook of vegan Southern recipes.
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