Elon Musk’s AI company, xAI, took an empty factory in Southwest Memphis last summer and turned it into Colossus, the largest supercomputer in the world of it’s kind. City leaders embraced Colossus as a technological breakthrough that could boost the local economy by offering many jobs and collecting high taxes.
Many of those living in Boxtown, a formerly Black and impoverished neighborhood, share a common fear. The plant relies on gas turbines, which generate nitrogen oxides, formaldehyde, and little particles that can harm the air. Boxtown deals with pollution caused by 17 other industry sites, and people in the community think xAI is adding to ongoing environmental issues.
Since they don’t have all the necessary permits, they are able to run on a loophole that allows short-term operation. Environmental lawyers believe that this exemption shouldn’t be used because of how big and polluting offshore wind turbines can be. Aerial imaging points to 33 turbines operating in April, which could mean up to 2,000 tons of nitrogen oxide emitted each year, making the company xAI one of the biggest polluters in the county.
Although Mayor Young applauds the facility for the jobs and prosperity it could create, state and local lawmakers like Rep. Justin Pearson were caught off guard. “There is an actual gas plant in the middle of everyone’s community,” he explained. Pearson and the local campaigners fear that the jobs won’t go to local people and problems to health due to pollution will last longer than the advantages.
Memphis is at the intersection of technological progress and caring about the environment. As xAI plans to expand, Boxtown’s residents promise to continue advocating for clean air. “People in our community are due for greater respect,” Sarah Gladney stated. Don’t we deserve the right to breathe safe air?
Memphis highlights a wider challenge in America: should the country seek to lead in AI if it harms the health of those who are most vulnerable?
