MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WMC) – Elon Musk confirmed on X that xAI is building a fourth data center near its existing Memphis-area facilities, while SpaceXAI prepares to remove dozens of turbines from its Southaven site and replace them with a permanent power plant.
Fourth data center announced
Musk posted on X at 6:44 p.m. on July 29 that the new facility, called “Minihard,” will be built to the right of the existing Colossus 2 and Macro-harder sites along Tulane Road. He said Minihard will feature the same 220,000 GB300s with 800-gigabit NICs as Macro-harder, but in what he described as an improved, denser configuration.
Turbine removal in Southaven
SpaceXAI is preparing to remove all 69 turbines from its Stanton Road site in Southaven and replace them with a permanent 1.2-gigawatt power plant with 41 turbines.
Removal is set to begin in August and is expected to wrap up by July 2027.
The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality has outlined rules xAI must follow going forward:
No new turbines after July 15, 2026Bi-weekly shutdown reports submitted to MDEQEach turbine has a set retirement dateEmissions tests required within 60 days on the 14 cleanest turbinesContinuous temperature and pressure monitoring after testing
Non-compliance could result in legal action.
Residents react
Southaven resident Jay White said the turbine noise had not been a major concern for him personally, but that he is focused on what the change means for the area.
“How it’s going to impact the community and if they replace it with something better, I think that’s going to be a good thing for the community to bring investments in this area,” White said.
Southaven resident Susan Broadway said noise and traffic prompted her to speak out.
“I didn’t hear it at first my husband was the one that said, do you hear that, do you hear that. I just thought someone was working in the neighborhood on the roads because we have new pavement. It just started to get more and more annoying with it,” Broadway said.
Broadway said her community will remain engaged as the process moves forward.
“We’ll see and if it means more we’ll keep fighting,” she said.
Environmental group raises concerns
The Southern Environmental Law Center issued a statement saying: “While xAI claims it is ‘rapidly removing’ its unpermitted gas turbines in reality the company has been continually expanding adding nine new turbines in July bringing the total to 69.”
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