Elon Musk has announced his brand new Colossus supercomputer put together by x.AI. xAI is a company created just for AI development and advancement. The Colossus supercomputer is being used to not only advance Artificial Intelligence but to “accelerate human discovery”- (datacenterfrontier.com)
What is the Colossus SuperComputer?
The Colossus SuperComputer is known to be the most powerful AI training system in the world. This supercomputer was built to manage AI training, handling bigger amounts of data and running more advanced algorithms that must be processed efficiently. Its purpose is to train the company’s AI language model, Grok, and also train the social media service X. It supports Elon Musk’s other companies, like SpaceX. Grok is a chatbot created by xAI.(npr.org)
How did it start?
The company xAI was established in mid-2023 and can be found in Memphis, Tennessee. “According to Musk, he founded the company because he began to worry about the dangers of unregulated AI. xAI has the stated goal of using AI for scientific discovery but in a manner that is not exploitative.”- (datacenterfrontier.com)
The Colossus came online in September 2024. Elon Musk’s company xAI took over an abandoned factory and transformed the building into the “world’s largest supercomputer.” On xAI their website stated “This is just the beginning.” The company plans to continue to expand and is preparing for a second facility in the city. However, this became a problem towards the community. (cnn.com)
The problem
The community in Memphis, Tennessee sees this as harmful towards the future economy. Residents in the area are worried of the methane gas turbines helping to power the computer. The turbines have nitrogen oxides, which cause smog, and formaldehyde (type of gas). The company has no current air permits. This made residents and environmental groups unhappy. (nbcnews.com)
“Our health was never considered, the safety of our communities was never, ever considered,” said Sarah Gladney, who lives three miles from the facility and suffers from a lung condition. (cnn.com)
In October 2023, the Environmental Protection Agency confirmed it was working with Shelby County officials to look into possible health hazards the temporary gas turbines cause. According to officer Joan Carr, if they continue the operation in the same place for more that 364 days, the department can regulate gas burning turbines. This means it’s going to maintain the amount that’s being released into the area already. But the supercomputer continues to run, with only plans to use temporary power as a solution to the pollution they are causing.(commercialappeal.com)
