It has been a little more than two years since the Greater Memphis Chamber first announced that XAI, now SpaceXAI, was coming to the Bluff City.   

Since that announcement, Mid-Southerners have watched Elon Musk’s company build data centers, expand its footprint, and become a major presence in the area, while also facing questions and pushback from some residents and advocates.   

Now, the Memphis City Council is considering a temporary pause on new data center development.   

As councilmembers prepare to discuss the proposed temporary pause on Tuesday, ABC24 is taking viewers and readers back to where it all started.

“We watched how the data centers, particularly xAI, operated, and it seems to me that they operated without regard for the communities that they were impacting,” Memphis City Councilman JB Smiley Jr said. “And also, the elected officials who represent those communities.”

From xAI’s first announcement in 2024 to the company’s rapid expansion and the debate that followed, here’s a look at the timeline. 

The saga began June 5, 2024, when the Greater Memphis Chamber announced xAI was making its way to Memphis, with Elon Musk’s company planning what it described as the world’s largest supercomputer facility.   

And while the announcement brought excitement about a major technology investment, questions started almost immediately about what a project of that size would mean for Memphis.   

Environmental groups said they wanted to see the benefits of the project but also wanted answers about its impact.   

Among the biggest concerns were the tech giant’s use of local resources such as water and power.   

At the time, the advocacy group Protect Our Aquifer estimated the facility could require at least one million gallons of water a day to cool the massive computing systems.   

The Tennessee Valley Authority said it would work with MLGW to manage the facility’s electricity demand.   

But while those questions remained mostly unanswered, xAI’s presence in Memphis grew.   

The company developed Colossus I in Southwest Memphis, followed by Colossus II in Whitehaven.   

By 2025, the conversation had shifted from whether xAI was coming to how Memphis would deal with the company’s presence.   

The city collected millions of dollars in taxes from xAI.   

City leaders created a special revenue fund of about $3.25 million, with plans to use that money in areas most impacted by the construction and operation of the facility.   

In December 2025, the Memphis and Shelby County Air Pollution Control Board voted 6-1 to keep xAI’s air permit in place.   

Advocates said the decision was a setback, especially for residents in Boxtown who had raised concerns about pollution and public health.    

Then, in January 2026, Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves announced a $20 billion xAI investment in DeSoto County.   

The project included plans for another data center, and the governor said the investment would create more than 1,000 jobs.   

But xAI’s growth also brought more legal challenges.   

In April, the NAACP filed a lawsuit against xAI over its use of gas-powered turbines at its Southaven facilities, arguing they violated the Clean Air Act.   

Then, in late July 2026, Musk announced plans for another data center adjacent to the Tulane Road facility.   

The project, called “Minihard”, is expected to have the same capacity as Colossus II, but a smaller footprint.   

Memphis Mayor Paul Young has also said xAI is expected to restart construction on a greywater recycling facility, a project intended to help reduce the company’s use of fresh water.   

After more than two years of xAI development, expansion, community concerns, and legal fights, the Memphis City Council is now considering an ordinance that could temporarily pause new data center developments.   

The proposed ordinance would give the city time to study the potential environmental, infrastructure, and community impacts of data centers and steer regulations moving forward.   

Smiley Jr. said the goal is not to stop economic growth, but to slow down long enough to make sure the city gets it right.   

“We have Councilwoman Green, who’s already on board; Councilwoman Cooper-Sutton is already on board; Chairwoman Jana Swearengen-Washington is all on board,” Smiley Jr said. “So we need three other council members to decide that they believe that a temporary pause when it comes to data centers is necessary in this moment.”

The proposed temporary pause would not only apply to SpaceXAI, but to all new data center development across the city.   

The city council is set to discuss the ordinance during its Tuesday executive session.

This article will be updated as details are received.