Elon Musk's xAI Expands AI Infrastructure with Massive Property Acquisition in Memphis

Elon Musk's AI company, xAI, acquires one-million-square-foot property in Memphis | TechCrunch

xAI, Elon Musk's AI company, has acquired a one-million-square-foot property in Southwest Memphis to expand its AI data center footprint, according to a press release from the Memphis Chamber of Commerce. The new land will host infrastructure to complement xAI's existing Memphis data center. "xAI's acquisition of this property ensures we'll remain at the forefront of AI innovation, right here in Memphis," xAI senior site manager Brent Mayo said in a statement. It wasn't immediately clear whether the expansion was related to a previously announced new 522-acre lease in Memphis. xAI is hungry for AI hardware. According to reports, the startup recently built a second data center in Atlanta with $700 million in chips and other equipment. It also inked a deal with Dell to buy $5 billion worth of GPU-packing servers. xAI uses its data centers to train and run its family of AI models, Grok. The company plans to upgrade its primary Memphis-based facility, called Colossus, to 1 million Nvidia GPUs sometime this year, up from 100,000 as of last year. Some residents have criticized xAI's continued expansion in Memphis, arguing it'll strain the grid and worsen the area's air quality. To attempt to win them over, xAI has provided the local utility with discounted Tesla-manufactured batteries and constructed a water recycling plant. In part to fund its AI infrastructure projects, xAI is said to be discussing a $10 billion round of fundraising that would value the company at $75 billion. xAI closed its last funding round, which topped out at $6 billion, in late 2024.

Elon Musk's xAI buys new property in Memphis amid supercomputer expansion

March 7 (Reuters) - Elon Musk-owned artificial intelligence firm xAI has bought a 1-million-square-foot property in Southwest Memphis, Tennessee, the Greater Memphis Chamber said on Friday, as the startup looks to expand its AI infrastructure amid intensifying competition in the industry. The new investment builds on the company's earlier announcement in December, in which it laid out plans to expand its Colossus supercomputer to house at least one million graphics processing units (GPUs) in the state. Colossus is seen as pivotal in advancing Musk's AI ambitions, as he works to gain a competitive edge over rivals such as OpenAI following the recent escalation in tensions between him and ChatGPT maker's CEO, Sam Altman, with the billionaire's bid to take control of the firm. The Chamber said that the Colossus supercomputer is "well on the path to the supercluster size", as indicated in xAI's December announcement. The expansion of AI infrastructure has drawn criticism from environmental activists, as data centers consume large amounts of energy. The Memphis Chamber said xAI's new facility follows an $80 million water recycling plant and also features the world's largest deployment of Tesla Megapacks for data center operations. It was reported on Wednesday that Musk's Tesla (TSLA.O), opens new tab will also build a 1-million-square-foot factory in Texas to manage and store its Megapack energy products. Reporting by Zaheer Kachwala in Bengaluru; Editing by Mohammed Safi Shamsi Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab Suggested Topics:Artificial IntelligenceADAS, AV & SafetySoftware-Defined VehicleSustainable & EV Supply Chain

Elon Musk's xAI buys new property in Memphis amid supercomputer expansion

(Reuters) - Elon Musk-owned artificial intelligence firm xAI has bought a 1-million-square-foot property in Southwest Memphis, Tennessee, the Greater Memphis Chamber said on Friday, as the startup looks to expand its AI infrastructure amid intensifying competition in the industry. The new investment builds on the company's earlier announcement in December, in which it laid out plans to expand its Colossus supercomputer to house at least one million graphics processing units (GPUs) in the state. Colossus is seen as pivotal in advancing Musk's AI ambitions, as he works to gain a competitive edge over rivals such as OpenAI following the recent escalation in tensions between him and ChatGPT maker's CEO, Sam Altman, with the billionaire's bid to take control of the firm. The Chamber said that the Colossus supercomputer is "well on the path to the supercluster size", as indicated in xAI's December announcement. The expansion of AI infrastructure has drawn criticism from environmental activists, as data centers consume large amounts of energy. The Memphis Chamber said xAI's new facility follows an $80 million water recycling plant and also features the world's largest deployment of Tesla Megapacks for data center operations. It was reported on Wednesday that Musk's Tesla will also build a 1-million-square-foot factory in Texas to manage and store its Megapack energy products. (Reporting by Zaheer Kachwala in Bengaluru; Editing by Mohammed Safi Shamsi)

Elon Musk's AI company, xAI, acquires 1 million-square-foot property in Memphis

xAI, Elon Musk's AI company, has acquired a 1 million-square-foot property in Southwest Memphis to expand its AI data center footprint, according to a press release from the Memphis Chamber of Commerce. The new land will host infrastructure to complement xAI's existing Memphis data center. "xAI's acquisition of this property ensures we'll remain at the forefront of AI innovation, right here in Memphis," xAI senior site manager Brent Mayo said in a statement. It wasn't immediately clear whether the expansion was related to a previously announced lease on a 522-acre site in Memphis. xAI is hungry for AI hardware. According to reports, the startup recently built a second data center in Atlanta with $700 million worth of chips and other equipment. It also inked a deal with Dell to buy $5 billion worth of GPU-packed servers. xAI uses its data centers to train and run its family of AI models, Grok. The company plans to upgrade its primary Memphis-based facility, called Colossus, to 1 million Nvidia GPUs sometime this year, up from 100,000 last year. Some residents have criticized xAI's continued expansion in Memphis, arguing it will strain the grid and worsen the area's air quality. To attempt to win them over, xAI has provided the local utility with discounted Tesla-manufactured batteries and constructed a water recycling plant. Partly to fund its AI infrastructure projects, xAI is said to be discussing a $10 billion round of fundraising that would value the company at $75 billion. xAI closed its last funding round, which topped out at $6 billion in late 2024.

Elon Musk's xAI Acquires 1-Million-Square-Foot Property In Memphis For Supercomputer Expansion - Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA)

Elon Musk's AI venture xAI has purchased a 1-million-square-foot property in Southwest Memphis, Tennessee. What Happened: The new investment builds on xAI's December announcement, where it detailed plans to scale Colossus to house at least one million GPUs in the state. The Greater Memphis Chamber confirmed on Friday that the project is progressing rapidly, stating that Colossus is "well on the path to the supercluster size" as outlined in xAI's original expansion blueprint. See Also: Elon Musk's Grok AI Silences Trump, Tesla CEO's Misinformation Claims, Then Backtracks -- xAI Blames Former OpenAI Employee Environmental activists have criticized the expansion due to the high energy consumption of data centers. However, the Memphis Chamber highlighted that xAI's new facility includes an $80 million water recycling plant and the world's largest deployment of Tesla Inc. TSLA Megapacks for data center operations. Subscribe to the Benzinga Tech Trends newsletter to get all the latest tech developments delivered to your inbox. Why It Matters: Colossus is seen as a critical component of Musk's AI strategy, as he seeks to compete with OpenAI and other industry leaders. Last year in December, xAI raised $6 billion to expand its Colossus supercomputer, aiming to increase its GPU count from 100,000 to over a million. Last month, xAI's AI chatbot Grok, which is set to be integrated into Tesla vehicles, has surpassed competitors like ChatGPT and Google's Gemini to become the leading productivity app on the App Store. This development happened following xAI's release of Grok 3, which introduced new AI capabilities, including image analysis. Check out more of Benzinga's Consumer Tech coverage by following this link. Read Next: David Tepper, Rausing Family Boost Nvidia Holdings Ahead Of Stock Volatility Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors. Photo courtesy: Shutterstock TSLATesla Inc$262.38-0.41%Stock Score Locked: Want to See it? Benzinga Rankings give you vital metrics on any stock - anytime. Reveal Full ScoreEdge RankingsMomentum92.39Growth55.35Quality94.33Value11.03Price TrendShortMediumLongOverviewMarket News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs