Sometimes, the world’s biggest companies do harmful things right out in the open — and no one notices. The xAI facility, founded by Elon Musk in Memphis, is one such example. Local residents report difficulties breathing and increasing health problems. Could this data centre really be damaging people’s health?
An Unpleasant Surprise in Memphis
At first, residents in Memphis were curious upon hearing that Elon Musk was coming to town. Soon, it was revealed he would be building the world’s largest supercomputer there. However, just a year later, people began demanding answers.
A local senator questioned why the Health Department hadn’t inspected xAI, which was running 35 gas turbines polluting the air. It was discovered that Musk’s data factory was burning vast quantities of natural gas — enough to power a small city. Worse still, the operation lacked both permits and basic pollution-control equipment.
Authorities suspect that xAI is violating the Clean Air Act — legislation designed to protect citizens from air pollution.
Musk’s Race for Artificial Intelligence
xAI was founded in 2023 to develop and sell artificial intelligence (AI) products. Its flagship creation is Grok, a chatbot launched on the platform formerly known as Twitter — now simply “X.” Musk was eager to join the AI arms race, but he was already trailing behind. Companies like OpenAI and Google had been training their models for years.
Musk decided to move fast. He wanted to run 100,000 graphics processing units (GPUs) in a single location. Experts warned this would take 18 to 24 months. That was too long for Musk — so he decided to do it all himself.
He named the project “Colossus,” inspired by the 1970s film about a supercomputer that takes over the world. The Memphis Chamber of Commerce praised the project as a sign of the city’s appetite for fast business deals.
Secrets and Gas Turbines
KeShaun Pearson, a lifelong Memphis resident, was shocked to learn that a billionaire was building such a massive facility in the city with barely anyone noticing. Alexis, another local, said people had to piece together information about xAI from posts on Twitter.
Training an AI system demands enormous amounts of electricity. xAI struck a deal with the local utility company to get 150 megawatts of power and build a new power station. But Musk wanted even more energy — and fast.
Soon, residents began spotting strange machines outside the facility. KeShaun visited the site and heard the roar of turbines — and a strong, unusual smell. These were mobile gas turbines, typically used in emergencies or in remote locations.
Patrick Anderson, an air quality specialist, noted that such generators require air permits. He contacted the Health Department and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for documentation — but they had none. No one seemed to know what was going on.
So Patrick hired a photographer to take aerial photos of the facility. What he saw stunned him: there weren’t just a few turbines — there were 35 in total.
xAI claimed it was using less than half of them. But when Patrick sent the photographer back with a heat-detecting camera, the images revealed that 33 of the 35 turbines were actively running.
Together, these turbines could generate around 420 megawatts of electricity — enough to power 300,000 homes. xAI had built a power plant without a permit, without pollution controls, and at breakneck speed.
Pollution and Illness
Joseph Goffman, a former EPA official, explained that most companies make an effort to install pollution controls from the start. He argued that xAI was treating the people living nearby as if they didn’t matter.
Easter Knox, who lives close to the xAI site, said she can’t breathe clean air anymore. She smells gas constantly. Alexis Humphreys said she woke up in the middle of the night thinking there was a gas leak in her home.
Alexis lost her grandfather to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a respiratory illness often linked to smoking — but he never smoked. Alexis, her mother and her grandmother all suffer from breathing problems too.
Easter and her husband have also developed COPD. The area surrounding the xAI facility has the highest number of emergency visits for asthma in the entire state. Memphis is already one of the most polluted cities in the United States, and some of its most toxic factories are concentrated in that very neighbourhood.
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