Musk’s xAI to build small solar farm adjacent to Colossus data center

Must Read
bicycledays
bicycledayshttp://trendster.net
Please note: Most, if not all, of the articles published at this website were completed by Chat GPT (chat.openai.com) and/or copied and possibly remixed from other websites or Feedzy or WPeMatico or RSS Aggregrator or WP RSS Aggregrator. No copyright infringement is intended. If there are any copyright issues, please contact: bicycledays@yahoo.com.

Synthetic intelligence startup xAI, based by Elon Musk, informed metropolis and county planners in Memphis final week that it plans to construct a photo voltaic farm subsequent to its Colossus knowledge middle — one of many world’s largest amenities for coaching AI fashions.

The challenge would occupy 88 acres to the west and to the south of the information middle. A 136-acre vacant lot owned by the developer that additionally owns the Colossus property at the moment borders the location. Given the proposed measurement, the photo voltaic farm would seemingly produce round 30 megawatts of electrical energy, solely about 10% of the information middle’s estimated energy use.

Musk’s firm has come beneath hearth for working over 400 megawatts of pure fuel generators with out permits, in response to the Southern Environmental Legislation Middle (SELC). The authorized group, which is working with the NAACP, says that xAI has operated a minimum of 35 generators able to emitting greater than 2,000 tons of NOX air pollution — nitrogen oxide emissions that contribute to smog and respiratory issues — yearly.

The generators have sparked fierce opposition from residents in close by Boxtown, a predominantly Black group the place researchers on the College of Tennessee, Knoxville, discovered that peak nitrogen dioxide focus ranges elevated by 79% in areas instantly surrounding the information middle after xAI started operations. Neighborhood activists have reported elevated bronchial asthma assaults and respiratory points because the facility opened.

The AI firm has mentioned that it intends to make use of the generators till it could possibly safe extra energy, however native officers gave xAI a allow to function 15 generators by January 2027.

In September, xAI mentioned it could construct a 100-megawatt photo voltaic farm close by, which will likely be paired with 100 megawatts of grid-scale batteries to offer a 24/7 supply of electrical energy.

The corporate hasn’t disclosed the whole price of that challenge, however the photo voltaic farm’s developer, Seven States Energy Company, was awarded $439 million from the U.S. Division of Agriculture. Of that, $414 million is an interest-free mortgage.

Techcrunch occasion

San Francisco
|
October 13-15, 2026

The federal award is notable on condition that many clear power grants and loans have been canceled by the Environmental Safety Company and the Division of Vitality beneath the Trump administration. 

In the meantime, xAI has added fuel generators in Mississippi to energy its Colossus 2 knowledge middle. To this point, 59 of them are on-site, and the corporate considers 18 of them non permanent, that means that regulators don’t monitor their air pollution.

Latest Articles

Is safety is ‘dead’ at xAI?

Elon Musk is “actively” working to make xAI’s Grok chatbot “extra unhinged,” based on a former worker who spoke...

More Articles Like This