xAI Colossus
Memphis, Shelby County, TNDeveloper: xAI
Also known as Colossus 1, SpaceXAI Colossus
- Rumored
- Proposed
- Approved
- Under construction
- Operating
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xAI's first Colossus AI supercomputer, at a former Electrolux plant on Paul R. Lowry Road in South Memphis, where Musk said in July 2024 that the first 100,000-GPU cluster was online. Anthropic announced on May 6, 2026 that it would use all of the site's compute. The site draws grid power via MLGW/TVA and on-site gas turbines; the Shelby County Health Department permitted 15 turbines in July 2025 after advocates documented up to 35 operating, and the NAACP and others appealed; the Memphis and Shelby County Air Pollution Control Board dismissed the appeals as moot in December 2025. A separate, larger Colossus 2 site in Memphis's Whitehaven area is tracked as its own record.
Key facts
Size & schedule
| Planned capacity | 300 MW [1] Anthropic says its agreement adds more than 300 MW of capacity at Colossus 1 (company claim); FOX13 reports xAI saying the site has more than 220,000 NVIDIA GPUs |
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Power
| Utility | Memphis Light, Gas and Water (MLGW) / TVA [5] |
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| Power supply | MLGW/TVA grid plus on-site gas turbines (15 permitted, 247.2 MW) and Tesla Megapacks [2] |
Water
| Water permit | TDEC Division of Water Resources operating permit issued to CTC Property LLC for the Colossus Water Recycling Plant, 3231 Paul R. Lowry Road (up to 13 million gallons per day of aquifer water preserved) [9] TDEC described CTC Property LLC as a separate legal entity from the xAI data center Source excerpt“A state operating permit has been issued for the Colossus Water Recycling Plant located on 3231 Paul R. Lowry Road. The permit was issued to CTC Property LLC by the Tennessee's Department of Environment and Conservation's Division of Water Resources(TDEC).” |
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Money & incentives
| Payments / community benefits | Memphis Community Benefit Ordinance data center property tax: 25% spent on communities within five miles of data centers; $3.28 million in FY2026 revenue proposed for the area near Colossus I [8]Source excerpt“Twenty-five percent will be spent directly on the communities that lie within a five-mile radius of data centers.” |
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Figures are as stated by the cited source. Where sources disagree, each figure is shown.
Water and power
Water
Not disclosed. No source reviewed gives a water figure for this site. The Census does not estimate one.
Disclosed figures only, each as the cited source states it. Many are projections or permit limits, not metered use. How data center water and power use is measured, and every disclosed figure →
Timeline
xAI announces 'world's largest supercomputer' in Memphis and begins installing gas turbines [4]
Elon Musk says on X that the 100,000-H100 Colossus cluster is online in Memphis, built in 122 days (company claim as reported by Converge Digest on Sep 2, 2024; the Census found no primary record for the Sept 2024 start date seen elsewhere) [11]
xAI announces Colossus 2 expansion at Tulane Road site in Whitehaven [4]
Aerial imaging shows 35 turbines operating, per SELC [4]
Shelby County Health Department approves permit for 15 gas turbines through Jan. 1, 2027 (DCD reports July 1 meeting) [3]
SELC, on behalf of NAACP Memphis and Young, Gifted & Green, appeals permit to Memphis and Shelby County Air Pollution Control Board [3]
Memphis and Shelby County Air Pollution Control Board dismisses appeals of the turbine permit as moot [7]
Anthropic announces an agreement with SpaceX to use all of the compute capacity at Colossus 1, which it says adds more than 300 MW and over 220,000 NVIDIA GPUs; FOX13 Memphis reports the same agreement [1]
Issues raised
- Advocates say xAI ran up to 35 unpermitted turbines producing over 420 MW near frontline South Memphis neighborhoods [3][4]
- SELC says the permit ignored hundreds of residents' objections and disputes Clean Air Act compliance [2]
Issues are concerns and claims raised by the parties, officials or residents named in the cited sources. They are reported as attributed, not as findings by the Census.
Sources
- Higher usage limits and a SpaceX compute dealAnthropic · May 6, 2026 · company
- xAI granted permits for 15 gas turbines at Memphis data centerDatacenterDynamics · Jul 3, 2025 · news
- NAACP, others appeal xAI turbine permits for Memphis data centerTennessee Lookout · Jul 17, 2025 · news
- Inside Memphis' fight against xAISouthern Environmental Law Center · May 8, 2026 · other
- Memphis | SpaceXAI MemphisSpaceXAI · company
- The data center backlash comes for SpaceXAI's ColossusScientific American · Sep 9, 2026 · news
- Shelby Co. Air Pollution Control Board denies appeal over xAI's turbine use, citing 'mootness'Action News 5 · Dec 16, 2025 · news
- Memphis data center tax revenue to fund $3.28 million in community investments near xAI facilitiesTri-State Defender · Jul 24, 2026 · news
- State Issues Operating Permit for Colossus Water PlantMemphis Flyer · Jan 28, 2026 · news
- xAI announces agreement with Anthropic parent company for Claude to use data center in MemphisFOX13 Memphis · May 6, 2026 · news
- xAI activates Project Colossus in Memphis with 100K H100 GPUsConverge Digest · Sep 2, 2024 · news
Cite this page
Last updated Nov 5, 2026. Figures may change as records are updated — include the date you retrieved them.
| APA | Data Center Census. (2026). xAI Colossus. Retrieved from https://datacentercensus.com/dc/xai-colossus-memphis-tn |
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| MLA | “xAI Colossus.” Data Center Census, Nov 5, 2026, https://datacentercensus.com/dc/xai-colossus-memphis-tn. |
| Link | https://datacentercensus.com/dc/xai-colossus-memphis-tn |
Republishing a figure or table? Attribute it to Data Center Census with a link to this page. The underlying data is downloadable as JSON and CSV; the press kit has standing figures and contact details.