In Memphis, where people fear Elon Musk's supercomputer is making them ill (www.thetimes.com)

Elon Musk’s xAI has turned a former Memphis appliance factory into Colossus, billed as the world’s largest AI supercomputer to power the Grok chatbot. Built in 122 days, the facility houses hundreds of thousands of processing units and — when complete — will draw about 1.1 gigawatts of power and circulate roughly one million gallons of cooling water per day. Early Grok releases have produced controversial outputs (including racist and extremist praise) and features such as an “anime girlfriend” called Ani; each chatbot query can require up to an order of magnitude more energy than an ordinary web search. xAI rapidly installed methane gas turbines to meet power needs (initially 35, later reduced; Musk now plans 15 permanent turbines), and the company has paid $13 million in local taxes while creating an estimated 200–300 jobs. The project has ignited environmental-justice and public-health alarm in nearby Boxtown, a 90% Black neighborhood, where residents report foul odors, worsening respiratory symptoms, and longstanding pollution and disease burdens. Official testing (University of Memphis) found turbine emissions below national limits, but community groups have deployed independent monitors and remain unconvinced; xAI has pledged an $80 million wastewater plant and denies claims of harm. The clash highlights broader AI-era tensions: massive resource and infrastructure demands of large models, concentrated economic benefits with few local jobs, and unresolved regulatory, health and equity questions as data centres proliferate across underserved communities.