Elon Musk's xAI Plans to Cut Half of Smog-Producing Turbines Fueling Colossus

The recently finished substation will assist with managing the electrical demand.

Updated Elon Musk's xAI plans to remove roughly half of the temporary gas-turbine generators used for their Colossus AI data center within the coming two months, as stated by the Memphis Chamber of Commerce. This decision isn’t driven by environmental issues; instead, it’s because a newly constructed adjacent substation will provide all necessary power.

Reportedly built in Tennessee in just 122 days, the AI supercluster initially featured 100,000 Nvidia Hopper GPUs. That number has since apparently swelled to 200,000.

Residents and environmental organizations expressed strong disapproval of the system’s use of mobile gas turbines for power generation due to concerns over degraded air quality and potential harm to public health.

The problem escalated into a critical situation in April when aerial images acquired by the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) exposed that the AI company had installed 35 generators rather than the initially stated 15. This discrepancy sparked worries that the supercomputer might be one of the biggest sources of NOx emissions, which contribute significantly to air pollution in Memphis.

Local leaders disregarded the reports, informing journalists that representatives from Musk’s company xAI confirmed only 15 of the generators were operational, stating the rest were kept as backups in case of system failures.

Nevertheless, subsequent thermal images provided by the SELC seemed to indicate heat signatures coming from 33 out of the 35 wind turbines, raising questions about those guarantees.

According to a Politico report referencing assessments from the center, the facility might release anywhere from 1,200 to 2,000 tons of NOx annually, as per the manufacturer’s specifications and presumed operational settings.

According to estimates from the EPA’s CO-Benefits Risk Assessment tool (COBRA), such emission levels might lead to health-related expenses totaling approximately $18 million for local county inhabitants and over $160 million for everyone residing within the impacted ozone pollution zone.

Like these, wind turbines typically necessitate permissions from oversight bodies according to the US Clean Air Act. Nonetheless, the 35 turbines utilized by xAI do not demand such approvals provided their usage is marked as “interim” and lasts less than one year, Shannon Lynn, an ecological advisor engaged by Musk’s artificial intelligence company, posited at a recent online seminar organized by the Memphis Chamber.

And since they do not necessitate permits, it seems like xAI is operating these systems without the necessary equipment to minimize harmful NOx emissions.

As stated by the Memphis Chamber, xAI plans to decommission about half of its temporarily installed NOx-emitting turbines by summertime. This reduction isn’t due to opposition from locals or worries over public well-being. Instead, it’s because they require fewer such units following MLGW’s completion of a substation able to deliver up to 150 megawatts of electrical supply to the location.

Once the adjacent substation was finished and equipped with an extra 150 MW capacity from Tesla’s battery systems—used by utility companies for extensive electrical energy storage backups—the Memphis Chamber of Commerce has stated that the initial set of generators utilized to operate this system’s first stage are now redundant.

"The temporary natural gas turbines that were being used to power the Phase I GPUs prior to grid connection are now being demobilized and will be removed from the site over the next two months," it said in a statement.

However, as xAI scales down operations, they will keep using temporary turbines for their "Phase II GPU project" until a secondary substation, currently under construction, is finished and linked to the power grid. These interim turbines will be taken out in autumn after the completion of the substation.

Despite everything else, xAI intends to install 15 permanent wind turbines at the supercomputing hub to ensure emergency power support for the site during outages. The company aims to introduce eight fresh turbines equipped with selective catalytic reduction (SCR) technology to mitigate pollution from these units. Additionally, they plan to upgrade seven of the current temporary turbines so they can be used long-term with this advanced emission-control equipment.

As stated by Lynn, these turbines are receiving approval under the Clean Air Act, which will reduce NOx emissions from nine parts per million to just two once operational.

The Register contacted xAI for comments but did not receive a response by the time of publishing. ®

As rumors circulated about xAI potentially moving its generators around the region for different uses, the Memphis Chamber of Commerce informed us on Thursday that the turbines from xAI’s Colossus supercomputer in Shelby County will not be transferred to Elon Musk's second data center location on Tulane Road, which sits just south of Memphis.

“The company continues to evaluate various power solutions for its Memphis facilities while working within all applicable regulatory frameworks,” the chamber said on behalf of xAI.