The Early Word: xAI may have colossal impact, but another Grizz loss may not
We’ve reached mid-week, Memphis. It’s Wednesday, April 2, and the James Beard Award finalists will be named today. Four Memphis chefs are up for consideration, so good luck to them! (And it’s a good thing the James Beard folks waited until after April Fools Day for this one.)
Depending on where you stand on Elon Musk, you might say having xAI in Memphis is a colossal feat or a colossal mistake. Musk chose Memphis for Colossus, his AI supercomputer, last year. And since then, Musk has experienced a meteoric rise in power as one of President Donald Trump’s closest allies. His Memphis company has skirted paying utility bills for months at a time and operates natural-gas turbines near a residential area that’s been historically impacted by pollution. But if you ask the Greater Memphis Chamber, having xAI here makes Memphis the “Digital Delta” at ground zero of AI development. The Daily Memphian’s Samuel Hardiman looks into all of these things in the first article in his new series on Musk and xAI.
It’s starting to feel like last season all over again, right? The Memphis Grizzlies dropped another game on Tuesday, this time a 134-125 loss to the Golden State Warriors. Their performance was better, though, with the Grizzlies fighting until the end and Ja Morant scoring 36 points. They were just no match for Stephen Curry and his 52 points and 12 made 3-pointers (out of 20 attempted). And it didn’t help that Jaren Jackson Jr. stayed in foul trouble. Despite the loss, The Daily Memphian’s Geoff Calkins says all hope may not be lost, and here’s why.
Plus, FedEx has laid off 200-plus near Nashville, a new Frayser High broke ground and SmokeSlam’s gone country.
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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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