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Memphis-Based xAI’s GROK Spews Actual Antisemitism

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Elon Musk’s Memphis-based xAI supercomputer has been accused of pumping toxic chemicals into the Memphis air, but it turns out that’s not the only poison it’s spewing.

GROK, the AI chatbot on Twitter that Elon has admitted to adjusting himself towards answers he prefers when it disagreed with him that “the left is murderously violent”…

…has been pumping out actually antisemitic answers about Jews controlling Hollywood that echo clearly antisemitic sentiments, presented as fact.

Here are some examples:

Add this to the Elon’s controversial “salute” on election night, and his previous endorsement of a blatantly antisemitic post saying Jews “push hatred against whites”, and a troubling pattern emerges.

Will Elon be condemned the same way Zohran Mamdani was attacked as antisemitic for not condemning a phrase he himself had not even said?

Groups like the ADL have been quick to forgive/defend Elon. And they quickly moved on from Trump using the blatantly antisemitic term “shylock” last week.

Yet when it comes to Muslim mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, who won a hotly contested primary riding a wave of youthful energy and a powerful message of affordability for the working class, it has become the central focus of coverage of the campaign.

Where is the consistency? Surely Elon building an AI weapon of mass antisemitism should be a greater concern than a mayoral candidate who disavows antisemitism and has vowed to fight against it not playing word police.

And is Memphis, largely run by Democrats and elected officials who profess to be against anti-Semitism, comfortable continuing to help Elon build this machine as it gives antisemitic answers, knowing he is bending it to his will and it is only as benevolent as its creator – who himself has portrayed them as “detrimental”?

This is what y’all are so willingly poisoning Memphis for?

“DO YOU SUPPORT XAI IN MEMPHIS?” We Ask All 16 Shelby County Senators & Reps

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Since the announcement that Elon Musk’s Supercomputer XAI would be setting up shop in Memphis, there has been a lot of blowback from the community. Locals feel they have been left out of the process, saying they are being exploited and harmed by the project’s pollution and hoarding of resources.

A recent Perfect Union piece about the environmental impacts on the air they breathe and other local resources shows why. Memphis already has extremely polluted air thanks to other companies moving in and taking advantage. The ease of that process and the chamber’s willingness to remove any and all barriers regardless of local health impacts seems to be at least part of the reason Musk chose Memphis as the place to set up shop.

TVA is not going to help protect the people. They are supportive of the project, and Donald Trump already kneecapped the board’s ability to raise prices on XAI.

The County Health Department has not yet stepped in either, despite calls for them to deny XAI’s gas turbine permits after it was discovered they have been operating 33 out of 35 without permits, and lying about it.

The pressure on the health department to take a stand was too much for Dr. Michelle Taylor, the head of the department, who just recently announced she’s going to abandon her post and flee to Baltimore rather than stay and make the tough decision. (Her announcement came one week after County Mayor Lee Harris called her the best Health Department Director in the country… life comes at you fast!)

The Greater Memphis chamber, led by Ted Townsend, has been more than willing to work with them to grease the skids, and was a big part of the recruitment process.

Both Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris and Memphis Mayor Paul Young are supportive of the project.

Most county commissioners and city council members have been unwilling to speak up.

But one group we haven’t heard much from is the 16 senators and reps who represent parts of Shelby County/Memphis in the state legislature.

Rep. Justin Pearson has been a vocal opponent, along with his brother Keshaun, who runs Memphis CAP. Their position against XAI is clear, and they have been adamant that the Shelby County Health Department should reject XAI’s gas turbine permits.

But what about the rest?

We asked all 16. So far, only 5 have responded. Their responses are below.

4 Democrats told us they are against the project: Rep. Pearson, Rep. Salinas, Rep. Hardaway, and Senator Kyle.

1 Republican, Senator Brent Taylor, tells us he is for it, and provided a number of reasons why – including claims about the jobs the project is allegedly creating for Memphians. We asked him for evidence to support it, which we have yet to receive, largely because he says he doesn’t have access to specifics himself. (We will share Taylor’s entire response in another separate post)

Rep. John Gillespie (R) posted his support for the project on his twitter feed.

It has been crickets from the other 11 – 8 Dems, 3 Republicans – despite giving them multiple opportunities to weigh in before we posted this. We will update this post if and when more responses come in.

AGAINST XAI:

Rep. Gabby Salinas (D)

FULL RESPONSE: “As a scientist that has studied toxicology and an elected official, I cannot support a project that hurts the health and well being of Memphians. As our country continues to fail to meet deadlines to halt climate change, it is robbing future generations from the basic necessities of life. This project is moving at the speed of light in the wrong direction.

Air and water are our most precious resources here in Memphis. We have worked hard to improve our air quality, and we are all proud of our drinking water. This project puts our most valued resources at risk for the sake of a billionaire winning an ego-driven race. The health of our people is worth more than that.

We know it is black and brown communities who will face the highest burden. The lack of transparency of the project is extremely concerning. Show us the meetings. Show us the permits. And especially, show us the science. Our kids and our families will not be able breathe or drink good profit margins and economic growth.”

REP. G.A. HARDAWAY (D)

FULL RESPONSE: “The awesome power of AI is the motivation behind Elon’s speed. He’s gotta be first out the gate, because whoever comes in second is losing. He had access to all the data in the United States Government. Nobody else has what he has. So when he builds this out, he becomes the most powerful man in the world.

When he develops this superpower, resistance will be futile. He can sabotage any message or policies that regulate him. We won’t get a second chance to regulate him. We need to push back on this before it’s too late. It’s now or never. Elon already told you he only cares about productivity, and couldn’t care less about human beings.”

REP. JUSTIN J. PEARSON (D)

For his FULL RESPONSE about why “we deserve clean air”, watch this press conference with the NAACP.

SENATOR SARA KYLE (D)

FULL RESPONSE: “There is credible evidence that xAI is already violating our clean air laws. Yes, the gas permits should be denied. Memphis doesn’t need Elon Musk’s xAI bringing pollution without accountability.

Our city already bears the burden of some of the worst air quality in the state—and we’re not interested in becoming a testing ground for billionaire science experiments. If XAI wants to operate here, they should meet the same environmental standards as everyone else. No shortcuts. No backroom deals. Memphis families deserve clean air, not corporate smog.”

SUPPORTS XAI:

SENATOR BRENT TAYLOR (R)

Senator Taylor responded quickly and at great length. We will share his FULL RESPONSES in a separate post.

NO RESPONSE:

Again, all other Shelby county reps did not answer, despite multiple messages from us.

ADDITIONAL NOTES:

Rep. Gillespie (R) is Clearly in Support

OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS. WILL DEMS ANSWER?

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The MAGA Civil War Over the H-1B Visas Is a Chance for Dems/Progressives to Re-Establish Themselves As the Party of the American Worker And Drive A Wedge Between Trump And His Base


Trump hasn’t even taken office yet, and his besties are already at each other’s throats. It all started when he named Indian-American Sririam Krishnan, an Elon Musk aide, as Senior Policy Adviser for Artificial Intelligence, and Vivek Ramaswamy let loose with a Twitter post disparaging American workers as he and Elon Musk and the tech oligarchs issued full-throated support of increasing the supply of H-1B Visas to bring in foreign workers.

The Ramaswamy rant was unhinged and ill-advised, and caused an uproar among the MAGA faithful who oppose immigration in any form – some for obviously racist, xenophobic reasons, but also some in genuine defense of American workers, who have been largely left behind by many anti-union anti-worker policies our country has adopted over the years – on both sides of the aisle.

Granted, the story told about H-1B Visas sounds good: We don’t have enough skilled workers in the United States, and we want the best and the brightest, so we allow employers to poach 85,000 skilled workers yearly to come help our companies. Sounds great, right?

But there’s more to the story. As Senator Bernie Sanders says, these Visas are “abused” by tech oligarchs like Elon Musk, and “The main function of the H-1B visa program is not to hire “the best and the brightest,” but rather to replace good-paying American jobs with low-wage indentured servants from abroad. The cheaper the labor they hire, the more money the billionaires make.”

Bernie points out these are not just workers being hired for high level jobs – but also as massage therapists, dog groomers, cooks, etc… as evidenced by the fact that Trump admitted he has them working on his properties when he sided with Elon.


Trump said he hasn’t changed his position on H-1B Visas, but as usual Meidas Touch has the receipts👇🏽 – In 2016 he said it was “very bad for workers” and “I shouldn’t be allowed to use it, we shouldn’t have it”.

Elon & the tech bro money changed all that real fast.

That’s why there is actually a progressive, pro-American worker case to be made that Bannon, and Laura Loomer, and other MAGA loyalists have a point about the visas being abused by the oligarchy and the H-1B Visa program needs real reform – a position shared by the AFL-CIO: “Our unions will never accept policies that relegate millions of workers to an exploitable subclass.”

Elon has made it clear this issue is a big reason why he and his tech oligarch buddies helped buy Trump the presidency. A REPORT says “Tesla has replaced some of its US employees who were let go as part of a big wave of layoffs earlier this year with foreign workers using H-1B visas.”

Which is why Elon lashed out so hard at the Bannon crowd over this, calling them “Subtards” and saying he will go to “war” over it, and agreeing people who disagree are “the retarded right” and “unrepentant racists”.

Elon even went so far as to expose his “free speech absolutism” as hypocrisy by censoring conservatives on Twitter.


BANNON responded to Musk by saying “The converts sit in the back… We’re gonna rip your face off… You can’t beat us… we’ll never surrender… If you go low, we’ll go to the center of the earth.”

To which Elon eventually erupted with this “FUCK YOURSELF IN THE FACE” rant…

…and Bannon called Elon a “toddler”  👇🏽👀

Trump’s traveling buddy Laura Loomer even went in on Elon on a spaces, calling him a “liability” for Trump and a “national security threat” because of his ties to foreign governments.

NEWSWEEK calls it a “MAGA Civil War”.

And the headlines roll in.


And despite all that, Trump sided with Elon over his own base.

Money is a helluva drug.

The bottom line is it all creates a very real opportunity for Democrats to stand with Bernie, and the unions, and take up the mantle of defending American workers against the abuse of the H-1B visa system by Elon and the tech oligarchs.

The natural inclination for Dems will be to have an aversion to the idea of opposing legal immigration and siding with Bannon on anything – but to borrow a phrase, there are “not-so-fine people on both sides”. Defending Elon and the tech oligarchs isn’t a great place to be either.

As Bernie says, the system is being abused by the rich and corporations, and the very workers that are feeling left behind and voting for Trump because of it are the ones who are paying the price.

We all know Trump never actually cared about American workers. We all know he is a fraud. Now is a moment where he is showing that to be true.

If Democrats are still the party of American workers that they once were, this is a time to stand up for them.

Granted, it means standing next to, or at least near, the likes of Steve Bannon and others who are doing it with a not-so-subtle thread of racism and xenophobia. But there is a way to support immigration and what it means to this country while also calling for reforms to the H-1B Visa program so that it does not harm American workers by allowing tech oligarchs a supply of indentured servants.

This is an opportunity to show who really has the back of the American worker, and prove Trump never did.

Opportunity is knocking. Will Dems answer?

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