A demand by Memphis Mayor Paul Young for xAI to remain committed to the completion of a stalled water recycling plant has caught the attention of the world’s wealthiest man.
“We need to focus on finishing Colossus 2 and ensuring it is extremely stable, then will build the water recycling plant,” xAI founder Elon Musk promptly replied via X on Thursday, April 9.
Colossus 2 is the second of a planned three-part computer complex located along the border dividing South Memphis and nearby Southhaven, Mississippi. It gets its juice from a decommissioned power plant. The $20 billion project was originally slated to be completed at the beginning of the year.
Meanwhile, xAI’s $80 million water treatment facility will reduce industrial demand on the Memphis Sand Aquifer, by “shifting” the “reliance” of large scale users — like xAI and TVA. A pause on construction was announced the previous day, although the company originally denied the stoppage.
“Earlier this week, when we learned the project was being put on pause, I immediately went to work to ensure progress would continue,” said Young.
The facility would recycle waste water from Memphis’ T.E. Maxson Wastewater Treatment Plant. The suspended project was vital in gaining eventual support from city leaders for the data center, located at 3231 Paul R. Lowry Road.
“The colossus wastewater facility is part of this project solely because we asked for it,” said Young.
Memphis’ supercomputer is designed to use greywater to cool upwards of 200,000 graphics processing units. If the GPU’s are overheated, hardware could be fried resulting in disruptions to AI training. It is currently using potable water from the aquifer to cool the Nvidia gear. Colossus 1 became operational in 2024. The sites’ goal is to eventually install 1,000,000 GPUs.
“That is exactly why we pushed for it when xAI came into the market. And it is why we are not going to let progress stall,” said Young. While acknowledging the projects often run into the relays, he added “Memphis cannot afford to treat this like a typical project. This facility is important to our community.”
Also on Thursday, the Southern Environmental Law Center filed an appeal to an air emissions permit awarded to an xAI subsidiary by the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality Permit Board last month.
Three groups — Young, Gifted & Green, the NAACP and the Safe and Sound Coalition — complain that sufficient air modeling studies weren’t conducted during a rushed process. The reviews measure the impact of 41 natural gas turbines on the surrounding population. Noise issues were also cited in the appeal.
