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Last summer, an abandoned factory in southwest Memphis got a new life courtesy of the world’s richest man. Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company xAI moved in to transform this unprepossessing building into the “world’s largest supercomputer.”
Musk named it Colossus and said it was the “most powerful AI training system in the world.” It was sold locally as a source of jobs, tax dollars and a key addition to the “Digital Delta” — the move to make Memphis a hotspot for advanced technology.
“This is just the beginning,” xAI said on its website; the company already has plans for a second facility in the city.
But for some residents in nearby Boxtown, a majority Black, economically-disadvantaged community that has long endured industrial pollution, xAI’s facility represents yet another threat to their health.
AI is immensely power-hungry, and Musk’s company installed dozens of gas-powered turbines, known to produce a cocktail of toxic pollutants. The company currently has no air permits, appearing to rely on a loophole for temporary turbines — but environmental groups say the exemption does not apply, and residents are angry.
Read more at the link in our bio.
📸: Courtesy Steve Jones Flight by Southwings for the Southern Environmental Law Center; Courtesy Southern Environmental Law Center; CNN
