While the world’s richest man, Elon Musk, experiments with artificial intelligence and supercomputers, Black families in South Memphis are fighting for clean air. In a community with few streetlights and barely any public transportation, the arrival of a massive AI facility has sparked serious concerns about public health and environmental racism.
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Colossus — which powers Grok AI Chatbot, now dubbed the world’s largest supercomputer — is located in South Memphis, while its second campus, Colossus 2, sits in the Whitehaven area. With a third campus already in the pipeline, according to the Commercial Appeal, residents say the rapid expansion signals a growing clash between community well-being and unchecked development. Once again, Black families are facing the harsh realities of environmental racism and the social costs of technological ambition.
The xAI facility was established near Boxtown in September 2024, a South Memphis neighborhood founded by formerly enslaved people. Local activists and community leaders have described the area as a “sacrifice zone,” and it’s easy to see why. According to NBC, the energy-sucking supercomputer is powered by methane gas turbines, which emit nitrogen oxides, smog, formaldehyde, and other harmful pollutants.
City leaders, however, appear unconcerned.
In fact, critics say they’ve got their eyes set on profits. With hopes to transform the region into a “high-tech manufacturing hub,” this massive computer project is intended to bring in tax revenue and jobs, according to the mayor.
Mayor Paul Young told NBC “It represents a tremendous opportunity,” boasting about “an opportunity for us to take our economy to the next level.” Mayor Young may be seeing dollars but others see danger, including state Rep. Justin J. Pearson, a Memphis Democrat who feels things have gone from bad to worse.
“It’s no coincidence that if you are African American in this country, you’re 75% more likely to live near a toxic hazardous waste facility,” state Rep. Justin J. Pearson stated, per Tennessee Lookout. “It’s no accident that in this community, we’re four times more likely to have cancer in our bodies. It’s no accident that in this community, there are over 17 Toxics Release Inventory facilities surrounding us — now 18 with Elon Musk’s xAI plant.”
Residents are raising red flags as well, voicing concerns about health, pollution, and environmental justice. “How do we really know what is coming from those facilities?” resident Sarah Gladney asked, per NBC. “They can tell us anything, but how do we really know?”
According to The Times, the folks of Boxtown — a 90% Black neighborhood — fear the Tesla boss’ supercomputer is making them ill, as correspondent George Grylls described a “horrible, sulfurous smell in the air which hits the back of the throat” so bad, folks won’t open their windows.
“A lot of us are dealing with the burden of these facilities. Whether it be in our utility bills going up, water being exhausted or polluted, air being polluted against our will, all for the benefit of billionaires and billion-dollar corporations,” Pearson added.
The NAACP entered the chat last summer, announcing their intent to sue over the company’s use of unpermitted gas turbines. In their 60-day notice of intent to sue — a lawsuit filed under the Clean Air Act — NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson urged that they won’t allow xAI to get away with this environmental injustice.
“All too often, big corporations like xAI treat our communities and families like obstacles to be pushed aside,” Johnson stated. “We cannot afford to normalize this kind of environmental injustice — where billion-dollar companies set up polluting operations in Black neighborhoods without any permits and think they’ll get away with it because the people don’t have the power to fight back. We will not allow xAI to get away with this.”
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