Musk’s xAI adds third site to scale AI computing power

Computing power has become one of the main competitive advantages in artificial intelligence, and Elon Musk is investing heavily to scale it. This week, Musk said his startup xAI has bought a third building to expand its data center complex near Memphis, Tennessee, strengthening its infrastructure to train more advanced AI models.

The new facility, which Musk said is called “MACROHARDRR,” is expected to help raise xAI’s total training capacity to nearly two gigawatts of computing power. That amount of electricity is roughly comparable to the output of the Hoover Dam, illustrating the scale of the company’s ambitions. The additional capacity will support systems like Grok, xAI’s chatbot, which relies on large numbers of Nvidia chips to process vast amounts of data.

xAI already operates a large supercomputer in the region known as “Colossus,” which the company describes as the largest of its kind, and is building a second site, “Colossus 2.” While Musk did not disclose the location of the third building, media reports citing property records say it is located in Southaven, Mississippi, just outside Memphis. Together, the sites would form one of the largest AI computing hubs in the world.

The expansion highlights how costly and energy-intensive the AI race has become, as companies like xAI compete with rivals such as OpenAI and Anthropic. It has also drawn scrutiny from environmental groups, as large data centers require enormous amounts of power. To support its operations, xAI plans to build a natural gas power plant near the facilities, and the conversion of the newly purchased building into a data center is expected to begin in 2026.

Sources:
Bloomberg
Reuters
The Information

A.M.