xAI Plans $20 Billion Data Center Investment in Mississippi

The artificial intelligence company xAI, owned by billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk, plans to invest $20 billion in the construction of a massive data center in the US state of Mississippi, state officials have announced.

Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves said on Thursday that the project, to be built in the city of Southaven, would represent the largest private investment in the state’s history. The facility, known as “Macroharder,” is being developed in DeSoto County, near the city of Memphis in the neighbouring state of Tennessee.

The Southaven site will become xAI’s third data center in the greater Memphis area. According to xAI’s chief financial officer, Anthony Armstrong, the combined data center complex will host what he described as the world’s largest supercomputer, with computing capacity reaching up to two gigawatts.

The announcement comes as xAI faces growing scrutiny over its data center operations in the Memphis region. Civil rights group NAACP and the Southern Environmental Law Center have raised concerns about air pollution linked to xAI’s supercomputer facility located near predominantly Black communities in Memphis.

Opposition has also emerged locally in Southaven. A petition submitted by the “Save and Sound” coalition, a community group opposing xAI’s developments in the area, is calling for the shutdown of the company’s operations and has gathered more than 900 signatures so far.

xAI has not yet responded publicly to requests for comment regarding the environmental concerns. Despite the controversy, the company is expected to begin operations at the Southaven data center as early as next month.