xAI puts water recycling project on hold, drawing concerns

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- xAI says it is still committed to building a wastewater recycling plant to cool its supercomputer in southwest Memphis, but the project is on hold for the moment.

Elon Musk's artificial intelligence company sent out a statement on its X account early Thursday after local media reported the project was paused:

"xAI is committed to building a state-of-the-art water recycling plant in Memphis. This plant will protect billions of gallons of water each year. The team is currently prioritizing other, more immediate projects at the site, but our plans to build the water plant have not changed."

Wednesday afternoon, a company spokesperson sent a response to WREG saying, "This story is false."

xAI held a groundbreaking in October for the $80 million plant, which would use up to 13 million gallons a day of recycled wastewater from a nearby treatment plant to cool the servers at its Colossus facility, rather than relying on drinking water from the region's aquifer.

"This project is going to help us to preserve five billion gallons of water each and every year, and that is going to preserve the clean drinking water future for this community for generations to come," said Doug McGowen, president and CEO of MLGW, back in October.

News that the project might be delayed drew a response from the community group Protect Our Aquifer, which called for the city to hold a public hearing, and for TVA and the Greater Memphis Chamber to put pressure on the company.

"This project was never optional," Protect Our Aquifer wrote in a news release. "It was a core commitment tied to protecting the Memphis Sand Aquifer and the drinking water infrastructure for the residents of 38109."