Elon Musk’s xAI, now known as SpaceXAI following a merger with SpaceX, has made the Memphis, Tennessee area the center of its AI ambitions. XAI is building three data centers there, as well as a power plant in Southaven, Mississippi. XAI’s AI infrastructure there truly deserves its name Colossus. It’s a modern marvel that was built with breakneck speed. Anthropic and Google are now renting compute capacity at the data centers in a deals worth billions of dollars. But some say the buildout has been chaotic. XAI is now facing multiple lawsuits accusing the company of using loud, pollution-emitting gas turbines, some without the required Clean Air Act permits. CNBC traveled to Memphis and Southaven to speak with locals to learn why the data centers are such a flashpoint, to find out why backlash against data centers is spreading nationwide, and to learn what hyperscalers can do to win support as they race to build AI infrastructure.
Chapters:
00:00 – 3:54 Introduction
3:55 – 10:28 SpaceX’s AI ambitions
10:29 – 17:02 Gas-burning turbines
17:03 – 20:28 Constant noise
20:29 – 22:37 Millions of gallons of water
22:38 – 28:59 Growing AI backlash
Senior Director: Jeniece Pettitt
Reporter: Lora Kolodny
Camera and Additional Editing: Andrew Evers
Edited by: Marisa Forziati
Animation: Jason Reginato, Emily Park
VP, Executive Producer: Kamelia Angelova
Senior Technology Editor: Ari Levy
Bureau Chief: Christina Passariello
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How Memphis Became The Epicenter Of SpaceX’s AI Ambitions
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