MEMPHIS, Tenn. – It\u2019s the most expensive rent in all of Memphis.<\/p>\n
Artificial intelligence company Anthropic has agreed to pay SpaceX more than $1.25 billion per month to use xAI\u2019s supercomputer power in Memphis, according to documents filed<\/a> with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. SpaceX filed its initial public offering Wednesday as Elon Musk prepares to take the company public.<\/p>\n Anthropic, which runs Claude Code, has agreed to pay that amount monthly through May 2029, unless terminated by either party \u201cupon 90 days\u2019 notice.\u201d<\/p>\n The monthly rent of $1.25 billion is more money than the city\u2019s general fund for an entire year.<\/p>\n “Memphis should not be a playground for millionaires and billionaires,\u201d said Sarah Houston, executive director of Protect Our Aquifer.<\/p>\n A month ago, xAI decided to pause construction of its $80 million wastewater treatment plant that would reduce the computer\u2019s reliance on the Memphis Sand Aquifer. A city spokeswoman told FOX13 the sale of the land to xAI for the graywater plant was recently finalized. About a month ago, Musk said the company would revisit the project.<\/p>\n \u201cWe need to focus on finishing Colossus 2 and ensuring it is extremely stable, then will build the water recycling plant,\u201d Musk wrote on X<\/a> on April 9th.<\/p>\n However, Houston criticized the city for not holding xAI accountable for finishing the project.<\/p>\n “They had opportunities to get a formal agreement, a contractual obligation on this water reuse plant, and they never did,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n In a newsletter on April 10th, Mayor Paul Young said he pushed company representatives to make sure the project is finished.<\/p>\n \u201cCompletion is not optional,\u201d he wrote. \u201cIt is a requirement tied to how this project operates in Memphis.\u201d<\/p>\n Residents of nearby Boxtown hope they can see investments in the community surrounding the supercomputer. Last year, the Memphis City Council passed an ordinance<\/a> to allow 25% of the property tax revenue to benefit the neighborhoods where the data centers are located.<\/p>\n “I think we should have a portion of the earnings,\u201d said Farris James, who lives about a mile from Colossus 1.<\/p>\n Download the FOX13 Memphis app to receive alerts from
\nbreaking news in your neighborhood.<\/p>\n