xAI, the artificial intelligence firm founded by Elon Musk, has informed Memphis city and county officials of its intention to construct a small solar farm adjacent to its massive Colossus data center — one of the world’s largest AI-training facilities.

According to planning documents, the proposed installation will cover 88 acres of land located to the west and south of the existing center. The site borders a larger 136-acre vacant parcel owned by the same developer that controls the Colossus property. Energy analysts estimate that a solar farm of this size could generate roughly 30 megawatts of electricity — meeting only about one-tenth of the data center’s projected power needs.

The company’s power strategy has drawn scrutiny in recent months. The Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC), working with the NAACP, alleges that xAI has been operating more than 400 megawatts’ worth of natural-gas turbines without proper permits. According to SELC, at least 35 of these turbines are capable of producing over 2,000 tons of nitrogen oxide annually — a pollutant linked to smog and respiratory diseases.

Local pushback has been particularly strong in Boxtown, a predominantly Black neighborhood near the Colossus facility. Research from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, found that nitrogen dioxide levels jumped by 79 percent in areas surrounding the data center after xAI’s operations began. Community members say they have seen a spike in asthma attacks and other respiratory health issues.

xAI maintains that the gas turbines are temporary solutions until additional clean energy sources become available. Local regulators have granted the company permission to operate 15 turbines through January 2027.

In September, xAI also announced a larger renewable-energy effort: a 100-megawatt solar farm paired with 100 megawatts of grid-scale battery storage, designed to deliver round-the-clock power. The project’s developer, Seven States Power Corporation, recently received a significant federal boost — $439 million from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, including $414 million in interest-free loans.

The federal backing comes at a time when many clean-energy grants and loan programs have been cut by the Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Energy under the Trump administration.

Even as solar plans move forward, xAI continues to add more natural-gas turbines elsewhere. In Mississippi, the company has already installed 59 units to support its Colossus 2 data center. Of these, 18 are classified as temporary, a designation that exempts them from pollution tracking by regulators.

Source: Techcrunch