Shelly Brisbin

Austin

Producer and Reporter at Texas Standard

Producer and Reporter at KUT-FM (Austin, TX)

Writer, Editor and Podcast Producer at Freelance

I’m outta here! Find me at @[email protected] (Masto) @shellybrisbin.bsky.social or @[email protected]

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Articles

Tesla looks set to bring driverless taxis to Austin

3 weeks ago | texasstandard.org | Shelly Brisbin

The streets of Austin could soon play host to a new fleet of autonomous taxicabs – this one featuring Tesla vehicles. Austin riders can already hail a driverless Uber, and the city has been a popular testbed for other self-driving startups. Details of the Tesla rollout are limited, but tech expert Omar Gallaga, who wrote about the plans for CNET, says the fleet will start small.
How Monahans built its own broadband network

1 month ago | kut.org | Shelly Brisbin

It’s easy to take the internet for granted. With high-speed broadband available at home and elsewhere, many of us stay constantly connected at work or school, when we shop, and even when we need health care. But Texans who live in remote parts of the state often aren’t able to count on reliable internet. Huge chunks of federal and state money allocated in the past few years are supposed to help, but it hasn’t always worked out that way. In Monahans, Texas, residents did something about it.
Nvidia plans to make AI chips in Texas

2 months ago | texasstandard.org | Shelly Brisbin

A U.S. chipmaker known for designing and supplying the processors behind some of the world’s most powerful AI computers says it will make some of its products in Texas and Arizona. This would seem to be a significant move for California-based Nvidia, since it currently relies primarily on Taiwan-based TSMC to manufacture its chips. The Standard’s Shelly Brisbin says it is widely believed that Nvidia’s announcement is a response to the Trump administration’s tariff threats.
Challenge to a major disability law on hold

Feb 24, 2025 | texasstandard.org | Shelly Brisbin

A legal case that has had people with disabilities on edge for months is on hold – for now. Texas v. Becerra began in September when Ken Paxton, along with 16 other state attorneys general, sued the Biden administration over updates to Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. Section 504 is considered a foundational law by disabled Americans.
Stargate’s $500 billion bet on AI

Jan 23, 2025 | texasstandard.org | Shelly Brisbin

A group of tech CEOs joined President Trump at the White House on Tuesday to announce a joint AI venture they say will invest $500 billion and add “hundreds of thousands of jobs” to the U.S. economy, according to a statement on the venture’s web page that Trump echoed. The new partnership, called Stargate, is a joint venture of OpenAI – maker of ChatGPT – Austin-based data company, Oracle, and venture capital firm SoftBank.
How a pair of ‘hairy’ boots met their demise

Dec 13, 2024 | texasstandard.org | Shelly Brisbin

The right pair of cowboy boots can be among a Texan’s most prized possessions. That’s the idea behind our ongoing series “From Heel to Toe” in which folks tell us a story about their own boots. But let’s face it, Texas is a big place, and boots can mean different things to different people depending on where they live in the Lone Star State. That’s the idea behind today’s boot story. Karen lives in Abilene, but she says she and her family used to travel to a relative’s ranch in the summer.
Scotts Miracle-Gro is pruning AeroGarden from its product line

Nov 14, 2024 | texasstandard.org | Shelly Brisbin

The COVID-19 pandemic was a fertile time for tech companies to expand or create products that people could use during the long days and weeks they were forced to spend at home. One popular example was AeroGarden, an indoor hydroponic garden setup with its own smartphone app to manage growing conditions. Last week, parent company Scotts Miracle-Gro, which acquired AeroGarden in 2020, announced it would be shutting down the product line after the end of the year.
Triple-threat talent, Kris Kristofferson, dies at 88

Sep 30, 2024 | tpr.org | Shelly Brisbin

Was Kris Kristofferson a legendary songwriter, a craggy-voiced member of the “outlaw” generation of country artists, or an actor with nearly 50 films to his credit? Of course, he was all three. The legendary artist died at his home in Hawaii yesterday. He was 88. Kristofferson was a native Texan, too. He was born in Brownsville, though he mostly lived outside the Lone Star State as an adult.
Triple-threat talent, Kris Kristofferson, dies at 88

Sep 30, 2024 | texasstandard.org | Shelly Brisbin

And yet he seemed to sort of cultivate this image of very much an everyday man. I mean, it almost was like that whole reputation as a scholar was something of a yoke. Do you think it was, or no? I don’t know, I mean, I look at him – he’s so much better-looking than the rest of us, is so much smarter than the rest of us. I’ll be honest. It’s hard to think of him as an everyman.
Microsoft may reinstate Three Mile Island nuclear plant for AI operations

Sep 26, 2024 | texasstandard.org | Shelly Brisbin |Yoali Rodriguez

The worst nuclear accident in U.S. history happened in 1979 at a reactor at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania. One of its units experienced a partial meltdown. The other operated until 2019 when it was shut down for economic reasons. Now, Microsoft is planning to bring it back to support power-hungry artificial intelligence operations. Tech expert Omar Gallaga wrote an article for CNET on the topic. He joined Texas Standard to discuss.