WKNO TRANSCRIPT
CHRISTOPHER BLANK (Host): In recent years, the City of Memphis has become more responsive to citizens when it comes to how businesses or industries impact life here. And that was part of the debate about xAI's move to Memphis. The supercomputer it now operates here needs huge amounts of electricity and water. And this week xAI was back on the City Council's agenda. With us to talk about that is political analyst Otis Sanford. Welcome back.
OTIS SANFORD: Thank you, Chris. Good to be back.
BLANK: Otis, to me, one of the biggest surprises at a time when most companies want government subsidies and incentives: xAI on its own dime says it's building a greywater treatment facility to the tune of about $79 million. What that will do is take treated sewage and clean it to the point that water can then be used on industrial machinery, essentially replacing some of the water now being pumped from the aquifer. Some of the treated water would also go to TVA's power plant and also Nucor Steel. So all this sounds really good to me and to conservationists. But Otis, why did the city council have reservations when xAI came to buy some city-owned land to build this treatment facility?
SANFORD: Number one, there had been some lack of transparency prior to this. This company came to town pretty much all of a sudden. And it was left to people like MLGW's Doug McGowen and the [Greater Memphis] Chamber's Ted Townsend to sort of explain this. And we never really got details from xAI officials themselves. And so that left a lot of distrust there. Plus, there was problems, as you mentioned, with environmentalists worried about what the overall motive was.
BLANK: How much do you think Elon Musk himself, and what the company does as an artificial intelligence provider for the X platform -- how much do you think that factors into conversations about xAI that we're having right now?
SANFORD: Oh, I think it's a lot. Probably more about Musk himself than really about xAI. And matter of fact, even some of the city council members were very vocal about the fact that Musk is out there right now wreaking havoc with our government. And so yes, that had a lot to do with it. And I understand that.
BLANK: So the other big issue with xAI was air pollution. It's been using natural gas turbines for power, which activists say is unhealthy to the nearby community. The company says it's also considering a solar farm on 552 acres of land that they've already leased from the Economic Development Growth Engine from Memphis and Shelby County. So a lot of environmental stuff with this company. Otis, what do you think is the big picture story with xAI and why is it getting so much attention in the local media?
SANFORD: The solar farm issue is a big deal. First of all, they did buy the land. I think it'll generate some property tax revenue. That is one of the more positive things here in addition to the fact that xAI is building the greywater plant on its own dime. There is less to be mad about now, I believe, about the whole project than there were months ago when the whole thing -- I still believe -- was shrouded in secrecy.
BLANK: Otis, I want to talk briefly about another business story. Memphis, as you know, is a huge center of medical research in the United States. The Trump Administration has proposed spending cuts for medical research. And this is set off alarm bells everywhere from St. Jude to UT Health Science Center. How big of a problem is this for our community?
SANFORD: It's a huge problem, Chris. We have the reputation of being a hotbed for medical research and healthcare. And this is going to be a huge blow if it happens to places like St. Jude and UT Health Science Center. This is a major problem here, and it just seems as if it was done in such a draconian way, out of the blue, without any forethought about what the impact would be on research and certainly on healthcare. I just think this is an example of the slip-shod way this new administration has begun.
BLANK: If there is going to be any hope for these institutions, it's going to have to come from Republicans -- our Republican legislators. Do we know where they stand on these issues?
SANFORD: Well, right now, they're not standing at all. They're groveling because they are pretty much making it clear that whatever Donald Trump wants, Donald Trump will get. And so, I have not seen them push back at all on this. But this whole issue, especially around federal funding from the National Institutes of Health, will be a test of our politicians -- and Republicans because they run the state. I'm not totally convinced that they're going to do the right thing. I just hope they do.
