MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WMC) – A coalition of local leaders, labor unions and community members rallied in protest of Elon Musk\u2019s supercomputers on Friday, calling for the removal of xAI from Memphis and urging leaders to put citizens above corporations.<\/p>\n
Main concerns include pollution and energy consumption from Musk\u2019s two Memphis facilities, as well as what some consider a lack of transparency from city officials regarding xAI\u2019s developments and community benefits.<\/p>\n
Just last week, on April 23, Musk gave investors a tour in Memphis as part of his global marketing launch for SpaceX\u2019s $2 trillion dollar Initial Public Offering (IPO)\u2014the largest corporate transaction in history.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know xAI is about to contaminate our water, contaminate our air,\u201d said Keith Caldwell, president of the Memphis Interfaith Coalition for Action and Hope (MICAH). <\/p>\n
xAI announced in early April that it had halted progress on a Memphis water recycling plant<\/a> that would take the treated wastewater from the City of Memphis and transform it into a coolant for its Collosus 1 supercomputer.<\/p>\n The greywater plant will cost about $80 million<\/a> to build.<\/p>\n \u201cWe don\u2019t think they\u2019re going to build a treatment plant,\u201d said Caldwell, \u201cPeople did a protest today… this thing about letting them come in and ride roughshod over people, we have a say, and we\u2019ve had all these people come out and say, \u2018We will not take this lying down, and people united shall never be divided.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n May 1 marks May Day, also known as International Workers\u2019 Day, which celebrates workers and labor unions.<\/p>\n Friday\u2019s rally included state Representative Justin Pearson (D-Memphis); NAACP Memphis President Kermit Moore; Keshaun Pearson, Justin\u2019s brother and the executive director of Memphis Communities Against Pollution (MCAP); and Rebekkah Gorbea, statewide coordinator for Tennessee for All.<\/p>\n \u201cOutside of the invitation and what Elon Musk wants Wall Street to see, residents and community advocates tell a very different story: one of pollution and financial loss for Memphis. In Southwest Memphis, this promise of cutting-edge AI infrastructure has come with extreme hidden costs. But the concerns don\u2019t stop at environmental impact. Critics point to a broader pattern across Musk\u2019s business empire – where interlocking entities, including SpaceX and xAI, create a web of transactions that blur the line between growth and self-dealing…<\/p>\n \u201c…For many, xAI is simply a convergence of environmental harm, financial engineering, and mounting investor exposure. At the center of it all is Elon Musk.\u201d<\/p>\n