Colossus 1 — Memphis

Does the disclosed design cool the whole campus this record covers without evaporating water?

NoCompany statement

Slides from the local utility, Memphis Light, Gas and Water (MLGW), are dated July 9, 2024. They say xAI “will use two water systems”. One is a closed loop that cools the computers. A closed loop sends the same water around again and again. The slides say this water is cooled by “a water-cooled chiller and evaporative cooling tower”. An evaporative cooling tower removes heat by letting water evaporate. The slides set out the plan as of July 2024. They do not show how the site runs now.

Source: City of Memphis, MLGW Utility Support to xAI, slides for the MLGW Committee, July 9, 2024, July 9, 2024.

Is a number public for how much water the site or campus needs or consumes?

YesCompany statement

Slides from the local utility, Memphis Light, Gas and Water (MLGW), are dated July 9, 2024. They say the project “would add ~1 MGD” to the demand for MLGW water. MGD means million gallons a day. So the project would add about 1 million gallons a day. MLGW delivers 150 million gallons a day to its customers on average. The 1 million figure is a forecast (projected demand). It is not a meter reading. A diagram in the same slides shows the main water pipe (the distribution main). It labels 2 million gallons a day of available capacity. Pipe capacity is not what the campus needs (demand) or uses up (consumption).

Source: City of Memphis, MLGW Utility Support to xAI, slides for the MLGW Committee, July 9, 2024, July 9, 2024.

Is clean power accounting for this project public, and does it clearly state the matching period?

Not known

The listed records do not answer this.

Is a final air permit for this project public in the listed records?

Not knownOfficial record

County records listed in search results mention permit 01156-01PC and an appeal (a formal request to review a decision). Their direct links now return a “not found” error (HTTP 404). The listed records that open do not show the final document, its current status or its conditions. Conditions are the rules a permit sets.

Sources: Shelby County Health Department, Construction permit evaluation, source 01156, July 2, 2025; Shelby County Health Department, Air-board meeting notice of December 15, 2025, December 15, 2025.

Do the listed records show enforceable noise limits, as numbers, for the site when it runs?

Not known

The listed records do not answer this.

Do public records show an adopted tariff or agreement that says who pays the project’s power costs?

Not knownOfficial record

The slides are from the local utility, Memphis Light, Gas and Water (MLGW). They are dated July 9, 2024. They say the utility will raise the power available to the site to 50 megawatts (MW). They say this will be “at an MLGW capital cost of $760,000”. They say the developer “will pay for construction of 150MW substation”. They say the utility will give a “margin allowance” on the monthly bill. They say this is “to recoup cost of construction of the substation (approximately $24M total)”. They say the power used will be paid for at the “prevailing commercial rate”. They say contracts for gas, water and “initial electric service” were arranged from April to June. At that date, the 150 MW request still needed approval. It had to come from the board of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). The listed records do not include those contracts. They include no adopted rate schedule (a “tariff”).

Source: City of Memphis, MLGW Utility Support to xAI, slides for the MLGW Committee, July 9, 2024, July 9, 2024.

Does a public record show a local land-use decision?

Not known

The listed records do not answer this.