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Elon Musk's xAI Plans Massive Expansion of AI Supercomputer in Memphis (usnews.com) 135

An anonymous reader shared this report from Reuters: Elon Musk's artificial intelligence startup xAI plans to expand its Memphis, Tennessee, supercomputer to house at least one million graphics processing units (GPUs), the Greater Memphis Chamber said on Wednesday, as xAI races to compete against rivals like OpenAI.

The move represents a massive expansion for the supercomputer called Colossus, which currently has 100,000 GPUs to train xAI's chatbot called Grok. As part of the expansion, Nvidia, which supplies the GPUs, and Dell and Super Micro, which have assembled the server racks for the computer, will establish operations in Memphis, the chamber said in a statement.

The Greater Memphis chamber (an economic development organization) called it "the largest capital investment in the region's history," even saying that xAI "is setting the stage for Memphis to become the global epicenter of artificial intelligence." ("To facilitate this massive undertaking, the Greater Memphis Chamber established an xAI Special Operations Team... This team provides round-the-clock concierge service to the company.")

Reuters calls the supercomputer "a critical component of advancing Musk's AI efforts, as the billionaire has deepened his rivalry against OpenAI..." And the Greater Memphis chamber describes the expansion by Nvidia/Dell/Super Micro as "further solidifying the city's position as the 'Digital Delta'... Memphis has provided the power and velocity necessary for not just xAI to grow and thrive, but making way for other companies as well."
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Elon Musk's xAI Plans Massive Expansion of AI Supercomputer in Memphis

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  • Also by Elon Musk (Score:4, Insightful)

    by 50000BTU_barbecue ( 588132 ) on Thursday December 05, 2024 @08:42AM (#64992797) Journal

    "Musk has been outspoken about his concerns around AI. During the keynote on Thursday, he called the technology his biggest fear."
    Anyone still worshipping this cock bagel needs his head examined.

    • Re:Also by Elon Musk (Score:5, Informative)

      by Moryath ( 553296 ) on Thursday December 05, 2024 @09:02AM (#64992819)

      Hang on. This guy named his new bandwagony platform "X," the same as he keeps trying to name [independent.co.uk] all of his various takeovers and scams?

      He already committed open land theft [thedailybeast.com] recently, I wonder how much intellectual property he's going to steal to "train" this new grift? The August launch was about what we'd expect [axios.com] from him...

      What they're saying: Harvard Law Cyberlaw Clinic instructor Alejandra Caraballo, in a post on X, called the Grok beta "one of the most reckless and irresponsible AI implementations I've ever seen." - and shortly after it appears that Narcissistic Neonazi Musk banned this Harvard cyberlaw specialist from the platform, which is unsurprising from the little despot.

      • Also, I can't believe they're going to call the supercomputer "Colossus"! Holy fuck, did anyone of them even watch that movie?

        • by Moryath ( 553296 ) on Thursday December 05, 2024 @10:24AM (#64993029)

          Musk thinks he is the Henry Ford (brilliant carmaker, admired salesman) of our generation.

          Musk instead is the Henry Ford and Howard Hughes of our generation rolled into one: an antisemitic conspiracy theorist and egotistical Nazi-affiliated narcissistic monster, probably peeing in jars in his office. [the-fence.com]

        • by quenda ( 644621 )

          Also, I can't believe they're going to call the supercomputer "Colossus"! Holy fuck, did anyone of them even watch that movie?

          Holy Fuck, are you retarded? Musk's products are full of pop-culture references. It was either that, or "Deep Thought".

        • Coming up next from everyone's favorite tech bro dipshits: "Hey, check it out, we created the Torment Nexus from that old sci-fi book 'Don't Create The Torment Nexus.'"
      • This guy named his new bandwagony platform "X," the same as he keeps trying to name [independent.co.uk] all of his various takeovers and scams?

        What a horrible thing to say about his son. Just because X Æ A-Xii has Elon as a father doesn't mean he's a scam. ;-)

      • I looked at your land theft link. It's sad he still tries to grow that pitiful early puberty beard.

    • Anyone still worshipping this cock bagel needs his head examined.

      Fans of the Musk will just move the goalposts. "Only Elon can save us from the AI, he has to have his own good AI to fight the bad AI" or whatever.

    • by gweihir ( 88907 ) on Thursday December 05, 2024 @09:21AM (#64992869)

      Anyone still worshipping this cock bagel needs his head examined.

      Indeed. To be fair, a _lot_ of people need to have their heads examined.

    • by dknj ( 441802 )

      still

      Why did you worship him in the first place? This is how you got to this problem. While we were making fun of you for worshiping him all those other years, you rabidly stood behind him and defended him.

      You get what you pay for. Sorry, but not sorry.

    • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      He's just trying to scare competitors away. Musk is relying on AI to solve several of his problems. Full Self Driver (now the subject of a lawsuit because it didn't deliver for over 8 years), bots on Twitter, computer-brain interfaces, having to employ humans to assemble his cars, and more.

      Elon has always been blinded by AI, seeming to think that a breakthrough is just around the corner for the last decade, and that if he just throws enough money at it somehow it will magically work. Remember when Tesla's "

      • by gweihir ( 88907 )

        The thing is, Musk is not nearly as smart as he thinks his is. He has some talent to make money and got very lucky. Also, apparently some people are impressed by how much of an asshole he is. But that is it. His education is admittedly better than Trump's, but questionable bachelor's degrees in finance and physics do not amount to much.

    • Re: (Score:1, Troll)

      by geekmux ( 1040042 )

      "Musk has been outspoken about his concerns around AI. During the keynote on Thursday, he called the technology his biggest fear." Anyone still worshipping this cock bagel needs his head examined.

      Perhaps anyone demanding that the AI overlords of Planet Earth come with ZERO morals or ethics, will be the ones history remembers most in need of a head examination.

      Given his stance, he might actually find reasonable reserve with AI development. While you appear to prefer the more Greed-driven philosophy in control of AI. Not that the Disease of Greed that will become our species epitaph is anything to worry about on a planet fully capable of decimating itself down to the nuclear-resistant cockroaches, m

    • He named the damn thing after a computer that took over the world.

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]

    • "Musk has been outspoken about his concerns around AI. During the keynote on Thursday, he called the technology his biggest fear." Anyone still worshipping this cock bagel needs his head examined.

    • "Musk has been outspoken about his concerns around AI. During the keynote on Thursday, he called the technology his biggest fear."

      Yeah, his biggest fear that one of his competitors might end up the winner in the battle for all that sweet, sweet AI investment capital. He's obviously not afraid of AI.

  • Its reminiscent of that S7E2 episode of the Simpsons when they filmed Radioactive Man in Springfield.

    (in Mayor Quimby's office)

    Director: We have $30 million to spend.

    Quimby: We'll blow up our dams, destroy forests- anything! If there's a species of animal that's causing you problems nosing around your camera, we'll have it wiped out!

    • by necro81 ( 917438 )

      Its reminiscent of that S7E2 episode of the Simpsons when they filmed Radioactive Man in Springfield.

      One word: monorail [youtube.com].

      • Its reminiscent of that S7E2 episode of the Simpsons when they filmed Radioactive Man in Springfield.

        One word: monorail [youtube.com].

        What I wouldn't have given up for the opportunity to have been onset the day they filmed that Simpsons episode.

    • by skam240 ( 789197 )

      "My eyes! The goggles do nothing!"

  • I'm sure the TVA is going to be able to supply all the power needs for this with their up to date, top of the line power infra. /s
    • What does the Time Variance Authority have to do with all this?

    • Likely, yes. I think TVA is still operating at least one nuclear power plant.
    • by Khyber ( 864651 )

      TVA still has a ton of line capacity left, or at least they did when I left Memphis almost 20 years ago.

  • Something to be proud of, no question.

    At the same time, there are still no real applications for LLMs besides "better crap" and somewhat better search. The problems and risks are raising though, with techniques for malware insertion, training-data poisoning, "jailbreaks", etc.

    • Something to be proud of, no question.

      At the same time, there are still no real applications for..

      ..and yet we STILL somehow have app stores chock full of no real applications for, with a dozen more added today.

  • Memphis, Tennessee? Hurray for diversification of 'tech' localities across the country! Except wait, did I just post about diversification [rollingstone.com]?

    • by kaoshin ( 110328 )
      The choice had nothing to do with diversified workforce and everything to do with the fact that the old Electrolux factory he is using was perfectly suited for the project.
      • Pretty much it. And TVA can probably supply the power through its nuclear power plants. It's a disaster for Memphis. The location will likely hire a handful of people to keep riff raff out, and another handful of techs to replace exploded video cards. All the value added work will be done in the Bay Area and Austin, likely.
      • Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • When are they going to make smartphone makers and computer manufacturers and other various networking devices and gadgets without any backdoors in them,
  • by quantaman ( 517394 ) on Thursday December 05, 2024 @12:10PM (#64993261)

    For a second rate chat bot.

  • by AlanObject ( 3603453 ) on Thursday December 05, 2024 @12:22PM (#64993289)

    The Greater Memphis chamber (an economic development organization) called it "the largest capital investment in the region's history," even saying that xAI "is setting the stage for Memphis to become the global epicenter of artificial intelligence." ("To facilitate this massive undertaking, the Greater Memphis Chamber established an xAI Special Operations Team... This team provides round-the-clock concierge service to the company.")

    I read this and I have to wonder if anyone really thought though the true benefits to the local community of this "investment."

    There will be some construction contracts, mostly short term. Long term employees? Maybe a few hundred. I can't imagine more than that needed to run a data center even that large. All those billions ain't just sticking around -- they are going to nVidia and other vendors elsewhere.

    Maybe they think they will get tax revenue out of it but this has "tax break incentive to build here" written all over it.

  • by nightflameauto ( 6607976 ) on Thursday December 05, 2024 @12:40PM (#64993317)

    There are a couple documentaries out there that have interviews with folks that know Musk and interact with him on a regular basis. The consensus seems to be that while he does, truly, want humanity to be "saved" in many ways, whether it be through space exploration and giving us an out to the "all our eggs in one basket" thing, or trying to create computer god to solve our current biosphere's self-induced crisis, but that he's utterly convinced only he, himself should be the one to save us. He wants his legacy to be that he saved the human race from itself. He very much has a savior complex, and he's desperate to see that savior complex through.

    His interests in AI, and public denouncements of all competitors, aligns nicely with this take on his personality. Sadly, I don't really see Musk as that terrible different from Sam Altman when it comes to AI. Sure, he may not be *directly* setting this up as a money grab like Altman is, but the end result will be the same. More money, more power, and more informational stock going straight to Musk and his interests. Greed become manifest, from humanity's greatest want-to-be savior that may actually be the only one with the resources and the political clout to pull it off.

    Sadly, I don't think the general population will see much benefit from our would-be savior. He'll save humanity for the ultra-wealthy. The rest of us should prepare to suffer, as he has been saying since right before the election. It's the only way for him to see his vision through, on the backs of the general population.

    • by sinij ( 911942 )

      Sadly, I don't think the general population will see much benefit from our would-be savior. He'll save humanity for the ultra-wealthy.

      For Musk to be successful in saving the humanity, then humanity must be in grave danger. By making a point about 'ultra-wealthy' you are arguing about selection criteria for the Arc and specifically complaining about not being personally included.

      • Sadly, I don't think the general population will see much benefit from our would-be savior. He'll save humanity for the ultra-wealthy.

        For Musk to be successful in saving the humanity, then humanity must be in grave danger. By making a point about 'ultra-wealthy' you are arguing about selection criteria for the Arc and specifically complaining about not being personally included.

        I wouldn't say I'm complaining. More making an observation.

    • Comment removed based on user account deletion
      • As for Mars, I like the thinking from Neil deGrasse-Tyson: if we can terraform Mars to be inhabitable, then why can't we just terraform Earth back to being inhabitable again?

        As fun as that little quip is, it still doesn't solve the "all our eggs in one basket" issue. Musk is a gum-flapping tool, but on that particular point I actually agree with him. I know it's not a popular opinion that humanity deserves a chance whether Earth survives or not, but to my thinking it'd be a damned shame if the only form of self-awareness we're aware of, the only species studying the universe that birthed it that we know of, disappeared whether it be by our hand or some cosmic event. We're not a

    • He'll save humanity for the ultra-wealthy.

      He is a pawn of the ultra wealthy. He may be the most publicly wealthy person, but he is really not that "big" in the grand scheme of things.

  • A "un-woke" forked chatbot light years behind it's competitors in a crowded and price sensitive market? Or an open source image generator, that only seems capable of making images of a fit and handsome Elon?
  • Elon Muskrat gives you Hyperloop AI. Fast lane to fame and fortune or looks like it to feeble minds.

nohup rm -fr /&

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