Sam Eifling

New York

Editor-in-Chief at Phoenix New Times

Editor-in-chief of @phoenixnewtimes (starting 2025). Formerly @patriotact, @ap, real Deadspin, @newrepublic, @thrillist Travel editor. Alum @medillschool, @ubc.

Articles

We got a $123K investigative reporting grant. Here’s how we’ll use it

3 weeks ago | phoenixnewtimes.com | Sam Eifling

In the days after taking the job as editor-in-chief of Phoenix New Times, I reached out to reporters in Phoenix and elsewhere in Arizona. It was clear to me that many of the Trump administration’s stated aims were about to land hard on this state — in policing, on the border, in immigration policy, and in the fundamental workings of democracy. Our paper has a small staff. I knew I’d need freelancers to step up and meet the moment.
Phoenix New Times is raising money to cover the hell out of the Valley

1 month ago | phoenixnewtimes.com | Sam Eifling

You wouldn’t believe how far we can make a dollar go. That’s my simplest pitch to you as we at Phoenix New Times roll out our spring fundraising campaign. We’re asking for our readers to chip in to keep our work free and strong. Our promise in return is to put that money to good use. We publish hundreds of stories a month, to keep you up to speed on news, culture, food and music in the Valley. Ads pay for most of what we do.
Reimagining the Grid

2 months ago | stories.uh.edu | Sam Eifling

UH Energy experts say emerging battery, microgrid and AI technologies could be the answer to fortifying Texas’ ailing power grid — at least in the short term. By Sam Eifling UH Energy experts say emerging battery, microgrid and AI technologies could be the answer to fortifying Texas’ ailing power grid — at least in the short term.
Stuff people said at M3F Fest 2025

2 months ago | phoenixnewtimes.com | Sam Eifling |Christopher Coplan

Admittedly, M3F Fest 2025 did have its share of ups and downs. But if there's one thing that the fest does especially well, it's serve as a vital source for totally nutso things uttered by its various attendees. Heck, we'd put it right up there with Innings Fest for sheer absurdity and humor. So what exactly is it about M3F that draws out people's most peculiar inner thoughts? The feel-good, hippie-adjacent attendees are probably just more free and unbothered.
The Freestyle Skier Designing Germany's Robotic Workforce

Feb 18, 2025 | sequoiacap.com | Sam Eifling

Tilman Tschoeke's first day at RobCo was in the spring of 2022. The small-scale industrial robotics company was still tiny, with just 25 employees in their Munich office. It was a challenging time for European startups-the characteristic precarity of early-stage entrepreneurship was exacerbated by rising interest rates and Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Companies were counting every euro carefully.
’Sup, Phoenix: An introduction from new Editor-in-Chief Sam Eifling

Jan 20, 2025 | phoenixnewtimes.com | Sam Eifling

You and I are buds, so I’ll deal you one of those not-for-print tales. It takes place in the aughts, under the midday Florida sun on the patio of a fish-and-fries joint on Fort Lauderdale Beach. I was a staff writer for New Times Broward-Palm Beach, and I’d just written a cover story about a bull-necked anti-racist skinhead who went by the nom de guerre of Diablo. He sat across from me at a picnic table with an expression on his face like a thunderhead. In person, Diablo could be darkly charming.
China’s biggest AI model is challenging American dominance

Sep 23, 2024 | msn.com | Sam Eifling

Continue reading More for You Continue reading More for You
Alibaba’s Qwen AI model challenges U.S. dominance despite chip restrictions

Sep 23, 2024 | restofworld.org | Sam Eifling

So far, the AI boom has been dominated by U.S. companies like OpenAI, Google, and Meta. In recent months, though, a new name has been popping up on benchmarking lists: AlibabaiAlibabaAlibaba, founded in 1999 by Chinese entrepreneur Jack Ma, is one of the most prominent global e-commerce companies that operates platforms like AliExpress, Taobao, and Tmall.READ MORE’s Qwen. Over the past few months, variants of Qwen have been topping the leaderboards of sites that measure an AI model’s performance.
What It's Like to Circle the Earth Twice for Your Son's College Baseball Games

Sep 9, 2024 | thrillist.com | Sam Eifling

Crissy and Madison McEntire first started traveling to watch their son, Will, play baseball when he was in elementary school. They didn’t know at the time, of course, that he would go on to be one of the top high school pitchers in Arkansas, eventually securing a spot at the University of Arkansas and pitching in the College World Series.
Arkansas-bred director Lee Isaac Chung puts the fun in funnel with 'Twisters'

Jul 27, 2024 | arktimes.com | Sam Eifling

The disaster tentpole “Twister” was the second-highest grossing movie of 1996, earning nearly a quarter-billion dollars at the U.S. box office in a year that was, at the time, among the 10 hottest on record globally. Every year since then has been hotter. The current record-holder as the hottest year on record is 2023, by quite a lot.