Memphis must reject Elon Musk’s xAI project

Since the announcement of Elon Musk’s xAI’s supercomputer project in Memphis, city officials — led by Mayor Paul Young — have portrayed it as a transformative investment for Memphis, an opportunity to place our city on the cutting edge of artificial intelligence and 21st-century technology. 

Yet from the beginning, this project has been shrouded in secrecy, half-truths, and outright lies. The supposed economic development we were promised comes at a devastating cost to public health and environmental safety.

The facts are now painfully clear. xAI’s facility is operating with 35 massive methane gas turbines, burning fossil fuels around the clock in the heart of a historically Black, working-class neighborhood already burdened with some of the highest rates of pollution-related illness in the country. These turbines are industrial behemoths, emitting dangerous levels of formaldehyde and nitrogen oxides, which are linked to severe respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. 

When confronted with concerns over the use of gas turbines, Young falsely stated that 15 turbines were active and that the others were simply stored on-site. But independent thermal imaging done by the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) proved otherwise: 33 turbines were fully operational, releasing pollutants into the air day and night. 

EPA tells South Memphis residents little recourse exists to deal with toxic emissions

This industrial-scale pollution is being generated mere miles from the homes of families who have already lived through decades of environmental neglect and systemic disinvestment. The facility’s location places it in dangerous proximity to the Memphis Sand Aquifer, one of the purest and most vital sources of drinking water in the nation. Our aquifer is already under threat from past industrial activities, and this project only increases the risk of irreversible damage.

At every stage of this process, city officials have treated public concern with contempt and evasion. Public hearings have been scheduled without meaningful outreach, key environmental reports have been kept hidden from public view, and straightforward questions from community members have been met with scripted talking points rather than honest dialogue. The message from City Hall is unmistakable: this project will move forward, no matter what it costs the people of Memphis.

This is an unmistakable act of environmental violence, targeting vulnerable communities that powerful interests believe are too poor, too Black, and too politically marginalized to resist. Southwest Memphis was not chosen by accident. It was chosen because city leaders and corporate executives believed that they could steamroll opposition without consequence.

But they have miscalculated. The people of Memphis are watching, and we are not fooled.

The fight against xAI’s project is about more than just turbines and permits. It’s about the soul of our city. It’s about whether Memphis will continue to allow powerful outsiders — like billionaire Musk — to treat its communities as expendable, or whether we will demand leadership that places the health, dignity and future of its residents above corporate profit.

Memphis deserves better. We deserve leaders who tell us the truth — not after independent investigations force their hand, but from the outset. We deserve a government that places the health of its people and the sanctity of our environment above empty claims of economic progress. We deserve development that empowers communities, uplifts neighborhoods, and protects the environment that sustains us.

City officials must continue to be pressed to disclose all communications, agreements, and impact assessments related to the xAI project. xAI must immediately cease operations until it obtains the proper permits, undergoes a full environmental impact review, and proves that it can operate without jeopardizing the health and safety of Memphians.

Moreover, future projects must not be negotiated behind closed doors with billionaires and developers. They must be driven by community needs, developed transparently, and subjected to rigorous scrutiny. They must center the voices of the people who will be most affected, not exclude them until the damage is already done.

Memphis’ resilience is not in question. But resilience should never be mistaken for consent to exploitation. It does not mean quietly accepting the degradation of our air, our water and our quality of life in exchange for vague promises of “technological innovation” that may never materialize or benefit the communities most at risk.

Memphis has endured too much to be treated as expendable yet again. We must continue to demand accountability, defend our environment and fight for the communities most impacted by these decisions. The future of Memphis must belong to its people — not to outside interests seeking profit at our expense.