Skip to content
DataCentersExposed
Operatinghyperscale

xAI Colossus (South Memphis)

3231 Paul R Lowery Road · Memphis, Shelby County, TN

Source: Primary source

xAI Colossus (South Memphis) is an operating data center in Shelby County, TN, operated by xAI Corp.. DataCentersExposed has documented 422 MW of reported power capacity, a 776,966 sq ft footprint and 1 tracked EPA enforcement record at this site.

Reporting by · Updated Jun 12, 2026

Report a concern at this facilityWatch this facility (email alerts)
Real parent
xAI Corp.
Operator
xAI Corp.
Power
422 MW
Footprint
776,966 sq ft
Interconnection
~300 MW
Utility
City of Memphis
Grid
TVA
Attribution & capacity confidence:highprimary source
Status · click to filter

Most sites are mapped — located but awaiting a second source. How we verify

Dot size = disclosed capacity (MW). Smallest = undisclosed, not small.

Overview

source: link

xAI's first Colossus supercomputer, in a former Electrolux plant in the Boxtown area of South Memphis. Powered in part by on-site gas turbines: aerial imagery in April 2025 counted ~35 turbines (~422 MW), but the Shelby County Health Department permitted only 15 (2025-07-02). Clean Air Act permitting of the excess turbines was appealed by the NAACP and Young, Gifted & Green (represented by the Southern Environmental Law Center).

Operator chain

  • Ultimate parent
    xAI Corp.
  • This facility
    xAI Colossus (South Memphis)

In the news

source: GDELT

Tax breaks & subsidies

source: Good Jobs First / GASB 77

No per-deal tax break is linked to this site yet. No state discloses the recipient of a data-center abatement at the facility level, so per-site deals are rare in the public record. If you have a development agreement or board resolution for this site, send it to us.

Water use

Modeled estimate~7.9M gpd
Direct (onsite cooling)
~3.9M gpd
Indirect (its electricity)
~4.1M gpd

No measured record exists, so this is a low-confidence model from 422 MW (disclosed IT power): 1.8 L/kWh cooling (temperate climate) + 0.5 gal/kWh embedded in TVA grid mix. How we estimate. Have a utility document? Send it and we'll replace this with the real figure.

EPA permits & violations

source: EPA ECHO
  • Clean Air Actno penalty
    significant · reported 2025-07-10

Environmental permits

source: Permit register
  • Air permit — 15 natural-gas turbines (24/7 operation)SCHD-xAI-2025-15T
    Shelby County Health Department permitted 15 permanent gas turbines for continuous operation at the South Memphis Colossus site. Aerial imagery had counted roughly 35 turbines on site at the time, leaving the excess units unaddressed by the permit.

Air quality near this site

source: AirNow
42
PM2.5
Good
38
O3
Good

Air Quality Index from the nearest AirNow reporting area (Memphis), as of 2026-06-10. Regional context — not this facility's own emissions.

Who lives nearby

source: Census ACS 2023
Median household income
—
People of color
—
Below poverty
—
Tract population
0

Demographics of the census tract this facility sits in (American Community Survey 5-year estimates). Environmental-justice context for who bears the local impacts.

Nearest school

source: HIFLD / NCES

The nearest public school, Double Tree Elementary in Memphis, is 3.9 mi from this site (372 students).

Schools are sensitive receptors for the noise, backup-generator exhaust, and traffic a large data center brings. Straight-line distance to the nearest public school (HIFLD/NCES, US public schools only).

Hearings timeline

No public-hearing records linked to this site yet. We surface planning-commission and board-of-supervisors dates when a record names a facility. If you know of a hearing on this site, tell us.