Hello everyone! AITX Team here with more updates this week.
If you’re new here, welcome! 👋 At AITX, we aim to:
Connect you with like-minded peers passionate about AI.
Provide a space for sharing ideas and receiving feedback on AI projects you’re building.
Share helpful tools and invaluable resources.
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Before we jump into the regular news, a few housekeeping items:
Upcoming AITX Community Events:
Austin AITX Community Monthly Meetup | sign up here!
Houston AITX Community Monthly Meetup | sign up here!
To stay in the loop on all our monthly meetups and other community organized events, subscribe to our AITX Community calendar here.
Check out our Community Directory:
Where you can fill out your profile and find other members of the AITX community. If you haven’t filled out your profile yet, please follow the link HERE and submit your information.
AITX Community Hack Fair
As the grand finale of the AITX Community <> Codex Hackathon, this science fair-style showcase is your chance to see what happens when Austin’s brightest engineers and AI enthusiasts come together to build amazing things in just 36 hours.
Hack Fair offers you a front-row seat to view cutting-edge AI prototypes to creative solutions to everyday problems. You'll wander through rows of demo tables, chat with the builders, and cast your vote for the Community Choice Award. This is the place to meet your next hire, co-founder, or collaborator.
Building technology is about more than just exciting tech—it’s about the people and community behind the scenes supporting. Grab some snacks, make new connections, get inspired, and celebrate the spirit of building.
State of AI in Texas Report Survey Live!
Howdy! The State of AI in Texas Report (STAR) has been finalized.
AITX Community and UT School of Law is excited to hear what the community has to say! By mapping the AI landscape and understanding stakeholder interactions, we hope to identify key businesses involved with AI development in Texas.
And by learning about AI product usage and how to support needs of new AI developers, we aim to provide a report that will both inform smart AI policy and serve as a guide for businesses on AI development.
THE WHO – We Want to Hear From You: If you’re based in Texas and work at Startups, Scaleups, or Enterprises, this survey is for you.
This is your chance to have your voice heard.
In this week’s edition you’re getting:
5 Upcoming Events
3 AI Community Stories
So let’s jump in!
Community Events
When: Tuesday, May 12 | 5:30 PM - 7:30 PM CST
Where: Antler VC Austin, Texas
What: We'll show how to go from idea to shipped Apify Actor in a single evening: using Codex and the Apify MCP to prototype a workflow, then turning that workflow into a real, publishable Actor.
When: Sunday, May 10 | 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM CST
Where: Antler VC Austin, TX
What: Hack Fair offers you a front-row seat to view cutting-edge AI prototypes to creative solutions to everyday problems. You'll wander through rows of demo tables, chat with the builders, and cast your vote for the Community Choice Award. This is the place to meet your next hire, co-founder, or collaborator.
When: Monday, May 18 | 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM CST
Where: Capital Factory 701 Brazos St · Austin, TX
What: A monthly session for builders all over the Austin area to learn about and build the latest AI technology.
When: Monday, May 11 | 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Where: Register to see address
What: May edition of claude code Austin.
When: Tuesday, May 19 | 5:30 PM - 7:30 PM CST
Where: Elastic Office 823 Congress Ave · Austin, TX
What: We'll feature two talks, followed by pizza, refreshments, and connecting with the Austin Elastic community.
COMMUNITY STORIES
Crusoe is demonstrating that AI infrastructure investments deliver measurable benefits to local communities, not just computing power. The company's Stargate campus in Abilene, Texas has contributed to a remarkable 37% increase in city sales tax revenue, along with rising hotel occupancy and increased weeknight business traffic. This positions AI infrastructure projects as economic development catalysts that could reshape how local governments approach technology partnerships.
Why it matters: This validates that AI infrastructure deployments create significant economic opportunities for host communities, a model that could accelerate adoption and acceptance of AI facilities nationwide while demonstrating the broader societal value of AI investments beyond pure technology metrics.
Need to know:
Abilene, Texas experienced a 37% increase in city sales tax revenue linked to Crusoe's Stargate campus involvement
Local economic indicators show rising hotel occupancy tax and increased weeknight traffic at businesses located approximately 20 minutes from the facility
Crusoe is strategically positioning its AI infrastructure projects as regional economic development catalysts to appeal to local governments and investors
Former LSU head coach Brian Kelly is using AI tools like Claude to prepare for his next coaching opportunity, sparking fascinating questions about how artificial intelligence might have advised legendary Texas Longhorns coaches during critical game decisions. Kelly revealed he's leveraging Claude's predictive capabilities for recruiting, transfer portal strategy, and profiling, calling AI "the next iteration in coaching." This technological shift prompts speculation about how coaches like Darrell Royal, Mack Brown, and Steve Sarkisian might have benefited from AI guidance during Texas football's most pivotal moments.
Why it matters: This article demonstrates the expanding role of AI beyond traditional business applications into high-stakes athletic decision-making, showcasing real-world adoption of AI assistants like Claude by prominent industry leaders.
Need to know:
Brian Kelly specifically uses Claude for its superior ability to predict "things outside the lines" compared to ChatGPT, which he describes as "much more driven right down the center"
Kelly is actively using AI daily for due diligence on recruiting strategy, player profiling, and transfer portal decisions as he prepares for interviews with athletic directors
Kelly believes AI utilization "is going to have to be part of the next iteration in coaching" and that coaches will need to adopt these tools to remain competitive
Hut 8 signed a 15-year, 352MW lease at its Beacon Point campus near Corpus Christi, with renewal options that could push the deal to $25.1B. The tenant is an unnamed high-investment-grade company deploying hyperscale AI training and inference infrastructure.
Why it matters: Another gigawatt-scale AI factory is landing in Texas, reinforcing the state as a top US destination for AI compute build-out.
Need-to-know:
Beacon Point is approved for up to 1GW of utility capacity from AEP Texas, with initial energization slated for Q1 2027 and first data hall delivery in Q3 2027.
The 352MW build will follow NVIDIA's DSX reference architecture for gigawatt-scale AI infrastructure, developed alongside Vertiv and Jacobs Solutions.
Hut 8's total contracted AI capacity now sits at 597MW across Beacon Point and its River Bend campus in Louisiana, representing roughly $16.8B in base-term contract value.
That’s all for now, folks!
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