Musk’s AI ‘Colossus’ in Memphis Is Everyone’s Problem
The tech CEO is skirting environmental protections in a predominantly Black community. But its residents aren't the only ones who will suffer.
Air pollution is the price of this AI arms race.
Photographer: Jamie Kelter Davis/Bloomberg
Build a massive supercomputer housed in a plant powered by methane gas-burning turbines that emit an undisclosed amount of pollutants into a disadvantaged community. Obtain no environmental permits. Ask permission later.
That’s the approach Elon Musk has taken in the city of Memphis as he rushes to build two massive data centers to provide computing power for his artificial intelligence startup xAI. It’s a scenario America might have to get used to as the Trump administration sidles up to Big Tech and devalues environmental protection in service to an AI arms race.