Elon Musk, the man with a plan, decided to take a step back from his daily grind with DOGE. You might be wondering, what is he up to now that he’s closed shop at America’s humanitarian-aid provider, destroyed a bunch of scientific-research stuff, and messed with the Social Security Administration’s communication systems. Well, if you want the scoop, just ask Grok, his A.I. project.
Grok spilled the beans saying, “Elon Musk’s A.I. company, xAI, is causing a stir in Memphis.” And boy, oh boy, they really have. Last year, Musk’s crew snagged an old Electrolux vacuum factory on the outskirts of Boxtown neighborhood in Memphis. Why Memphis, you ask? Well, according to Musk, it’s the home of Elvis and was probably the capital of ancient Egypt at some point. Modest as always, he renamed the factory Colossus and filled it with Nvidia graphics-processing units (G.P.U.s), the building blocks of A.I. systems. He’s got a whopping 200,000 of these bad boys now, and he’s aiming for a million. Rumor has it, he’s on track to build the biggest supercomputer in the world.
All that processing power needs juice to run, so the xAI team brought in around thirty-five mobile methane-gas-powered generators to support the data center. These babies, mostly made by Caterpillar, spew out a lovely mix of pollutants like nitrogen oxides and formaldehyde. And get this, they’re running without a permit. The Southern Environmental Law Center called them out in April, demanding an “emergency order” to shut down the generators with a hefty $25,000 fine per day if xAI doesn’t comply. The mayor of Memphis, Paul Young, is all for the project and thinks they should use it to their advantage. But the folks at the S.E.L.C. and the community aren’t having it.
It seems there’s a bit of a discrepancy about how many generators are actually running. SouthWings, a group of volunteer pilots, flew over the site and spotted at least thirty-three generators cranking out heat. That’s enough power to rival the Tennessee Valley Authority’s gas-fired plant nearby. The neighborhoods around Musk’s facility are mostly Black and already deal with high pollution levels. Some residents are worried about letting their kids play outside because they’re not sure what kind of gunk is floating in the air.
Justin Pearson and his brother KeShaun, the dynamic duo fighting pollution in Memphis, are leading the charge against xAI. At a recent town hall, things got intense with cops everywhere, and citizens airing their grievances. Justin isn’t thrilled about how the community is being treated and how city leaders are pushing for the data center despite the pollution concerns. He thinks solar panels and battery storage would be a cleaner option. But hey, what do I know?
It’s clear Musk could’ve gone a different route. A report from tech and energy experts suggested using solar microgrids to power the data center would be cheaper and cleaner. But money doesn’t seem to be an issue for Musk. He made some questionable moves in Washington and now he’s facing pushback in Tennessee. The community isn’t backing down, though. They’ve fought big corps before and won. And they’re ready to do it all over again.
In the end, it’s a classic case of big business versus the little guy. Will Musk come out on top, or will the people of Memphis show him who’s boss? Only time will tell.
