Elon Musk's AI company, xAI, has started building a giant data center in Memphis, Tennessee. Dubbed "Project Colossus," this facility could become the world's largest dedicated AI data processing center, underscoring Musk's ambitions in the race for leadership in this field.
According to sources, the new data center will occupy an area of over 1 million square feet (approximately 93,000 square meters) and will consume hundreds of megawatts of power. For comparison, this is comparable to the energy consumption of tens of thousands of homes.
The project is being implemented on the territory of the former data processing center of Allen & Hoshall, which xAI acquired in 2024. Local authorities have already approved tax incentives for the company, which confirms the significance of the project for the region.
xAI, created in 2023, is developing a ChatGPT-like chatbot Grok, which is already integrated into the social network X (formerly Twitter). However, Musk is aiming for more powerful systems capable of competing with OpenAI, Google DeepMind, and Anthropic.
The new data center will be equipped with tens of thousands of GPUs and specialized AI chips, which will allow xAI:
- Train the next generation of AI models (Grok 3 or 4 is expected to be many times more powerful than current versions).
- Process huge amounts of data from social network X and other sources.
- Create multimodal AIs that work with text, video, and audio.
Why Memphis?
- Access to cheap electricity (Tennessee offers low rates).
- Developed infrastructure (already has suitable buildings and cooling systems).
- Support from the authorities (tax incentives and simplified regulation).
Musk is not the only one increasing capacity for AI.
- Microsoft and OpenAI are building a super-powerful data center worth $100 billion.
- investing billions in Nvidia GPUs for AI development.
- Amazon and Google are also expanding their AI clusters.
"Project Colossus" could become a key element in xAI's strategy, allowing Musk to close the gap with market leaders. If the project is completed on time (approximately 2025-2026), this will give xAI a significant advantage in the AI technology race.
(* Meta, Facebook and Instagram are recognized as extremist organizations and are prohibited in the Russian Federation)
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