Colossus (supercomputer)

Colossus was launched in September 2024 at a former Electrolux site in South Memphis to train the AI language model Grok. The site was chosen because the abandoned Electrolux building could be repurposed to expedite construction. xAI Musk incorporated xAI in March 2023 with the stated purpose of understanding the "nature of the universe". The team includes former members of OpenAI, DeepMind, Microsoft, and Tesla. Musk has a history of involvement in artificial intelligence; he was one of the founding members of the company OpenAI, investing up to US$45 million in 2015. He left OpenAI in 2018, reportedly to avoid conflicts of interest with his own company, Tesla. However, it has also been reported that he had made a bid for leadership at OpenAI and left when his proposal was rejected. 3 months after the first 100,000 GPUs were deployed, xAI announced that they had increased the system to 200,000 GPUs and that they intended to continue increasing the computer's processing power to 1 million GPUs. , xAI claimed Colossus was the largest AI training platform in the world. == Choice of location ==

Musk was initially told that building a data center would take 18–24 months. The global appliance maker Electrolux first opened the facility in 2012, but it shut down in 2020 to relocate to Springfield, Tennessee. The center is and was previously purchased by Phoenix Investors in December 2023 for $35 million. and that it took Musk about a week to finalize the decision to build in Memphis. With this finalization completed in March 2024, construction of the supercomputer began immediately. The announcement that Colossus would be built in Memphis was made during a press conference in June. Altogether, the city could provide the massive amounts of energy needed to run the machine. The site continues to go into detail about how the AI company would benefit from the collaboration with local organizations such as Memphis Light, Gas and Water (MLGW), Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), the City of Memphis, and Shelby County. It emphasizes the importance of these partnerships, especially once the supercomputer reaches full capacity, which would require millions of gallons of water daily and 150 megawatts of electricity. == Environmental impact ==

AI data centers consume large amounts of energy. At the site of Colossus in South Memphis, the grid connection was only 8 MW, so xAI applied to temporarily set up more than a dozen gas turbines (Voltagrid’s 2.5 MW units and Solar Turbines’ 16 MW SMT-130s) which would steadily burn methane gas from a 16-inch natural gas main. However, according to advocacy groups, aerial imagery in April 2025 showed 35 gas turbines had been set up at a combined 422 MW. According to the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC), the higher number of gas turbines and the subsequent emissions requires xAI to have a major source permit, however, the emissions from the turbines are similar to the nearby large gas-powered utility plants. In Memphis, xAI was able to sidestep some environmental rules in the construction of Colossus, such as operating without permits for the on-site methane gas turbines because they are "portable". The Shelby County Health Department told NPR that "it only regulates gas-burning generators if they're in the same location for more than 364 days". In November 2024, the grid connection was upgraded to 150 MW, and some turbines were removed. While xAI has stated they plan to work with MLGW on a wastewater treatment facility and the installation of 50 megawatts of large battery storage facilities, there are currently no concrete plans in place aside from a one-page factsheet shared by MLGW. == Community response ==

The plan to build Colossus in Memphis was unknown to residents, City Council members, and environmental agencies. Many did not find out about the project until the day before, or the day of, as they watched the announcement on the local news. Some community members in Memphis have expressed concern about the potential for additional air and water pollution caused by the supercomputer. In a letter to the Shelby County Health Department, the Southern Environmental Law Center stated the emissions from the turbines make the facility "...likely the largest industrial emitter of NOx in Memphis..." Keshaun Pearson also stated that "We're getting more and more days a year where it is unhealthy for us to go outside." This fear is not unfounded, as the electric grid in Tennessee, including Memphis, has been strained during previous extreme weather events. In December 2022, MLGW imposed (then rescinded) rolling blackouts during several days of extreme cold, which strained the power grid. In a letter to the TVA, the SELC "urged the agency to 'prioritize Memphis families' access to reliable power over the 'secondary purpose' of serving xAI". == Current progress ==

In early December 2024, Ted Townsend detailed how the power of Colossus doubled in its processing capability. When it first went online in September 2024, it was using "100,000 Nvidia H100 processing chips". Still, this initial launch demonstrated Colossus to be the largest supercomputer globally. The maximum power consumption increased from 150 to 250 MW. The expansion of this supercomputer has already been discussed and will be the second phase of the project. It is stated that it will add 320 new jobs. xAI also plans to increase Colossus to 1 million GPUs. xAI employee Brent Mayo said that the addition of this property "...ensures [xAI] remain at the forefront of AI innovation...in Memphis." At the time, xAI representatives detailed its estimated cost to be $78 million, which was to be privately funded. In March 2025, approval was officially granted for this expansion, including "...the sale of 13 acres for a wastewater recycling plant near the supercomputer in southwest Memphis." The final cost of the project was revealed to be $80 million for construction. == See also ==