Story perspectives

Musk's Memphis AI Supercomputer Sips Million Gallons, Sparks Opposition

6/11/2026

Summary

Story summary

Elon Musk’s xAI built the Colossus supercomputer in Memphis, drawing 1 million gallons of groundwater daily and prompting $80 million water-recycling plans.
The United Nations University estimates AI will consume 9.3 trillion liters of water by 2030, enough for 1.3 billion people.
Data-centre evaporative cooling vaporizes about 80 % of water while training OpenAI’s GPT-4 consumes 600 million liters per run.
Boxtown, Memphis, opposes the 35-turbine Colossus facility over air pollution and water strain.

History

Historical Context

Google’s Oregon data center drew regulatory attention after a 2022 public-records lawsuit, and Amazon’s 2025 Project Rainier similarly highlighted water concerns. Studies later showed U.S. data centers consumed about 17 billion gallons in 2024 and could rise to 33 billion by 2028. xAI’s Memphis-based Colossus supercomputer now faces the same federal regulatory intensified pressure.

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Story summary

Elon Musk’s xAI built the Colossus supercomputer in Memphis, drawing 1 million gallons of groundwater daily and prompting $80 million water-recycling plans.
The United Nations University estimates AI will consume 9.3 trillion liters of water by 2030, enough for 1.3 billion people.
Data-centre evaporative cooling vaporizes about 80 % of water while training OpenAI’s GPT-4 consumes 600 million liters per run.
Boxtown, Memphis, opposes the 35-turbine Colossus facility over air pollution and water strain.

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