Artificial intelligence startup xAI, founded by Elon Musk, told city and county planners in Memphis last week that it plans to build a solar farm next to its Colossus data center — one of the world’s largest facilities for training AI models.

The project would occupy 88 acres to the west and south of the data center. A 136-acre vacant lot owned by the developer that also owns the Colossus property currently borders the site. Given the proposed size, the solar farm would likely produce around 30 megawatts of electricity, only about 10% of the data center’s estimated power use .

XAI has come under fire for operating over 400 megawatts of natural gas turbines without permits, according to the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC). The legal organization, which is working with the NAA

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