How Elon Musk's AI Empire In Memphis Became A Cautionary Tale
July 16, 2026
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29:02Now PlayingHow Elon Musk's AI Empire In Memphis Became A Cautionary Tale
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as posted by the channelElon 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.
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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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