Elon Musk's xAI purchases massive building to expand storage for its enormous computing power: 'He has no plan and no foresight'

Elon Musk's artificial intelligence company xAI purchased another facility to grow its computing infrastructure, with plans to reach almost 2 gigawatts of processing capacity, reported Reuters.

The new property, which Musk called "MACROHARDRR" in a possible jab at Microsoft, will become another massive data center for the company. xAI operates Colossus, its Memphis, Tennessee, supercomputer that the company bills as the biggest on the planet. The startup aims to eventually run over a million GPUs across its facilities.

"xAI has bought a third building called MACROHARDRR. Will take @xAI training compute to almost 2GW," Musk posted on X.

Construction on the newest location, which will be in the Memphis area, is expected to begin this year. The site neighbors a gas-fired station that the company is constructing, plus additional electricity sources.

The aggressive buildout is part of the company's bid to catch up with rivals like OpenAI and Anthropic in the AI race. But this kind of growth comes with serious energy implications.

AI data centers demand massive amounts of electricity to run and cool their equipment. A single large facility can consume as much energy as a small city.

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While AI tools may be able to improve renewable energy management and grid efficiency, the technology's growing footprint strains our electrical infrastructure. This can lead to higher utility costs for everyday people and increased reliance on gas and coal plants to meet demand.

Environmental groups have raised concerns about the energy appetite of these sprawling computing hubs. One study found that a data center in Memphis wouldn't help primarily Black neighborhoods who already face poor air quality.

One Reddit user offered a blunt assessment, "He has no plan and no foresight, and his every action suggests he has a naïve and cartoonishly over-simplistic mental model of how the universe works."

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