Memphis Wants to Be the “Digital Delta.” Its Residents Want to Breathe.

The Memphis City Council narrowly missed passing an 18-month ban on data centers, instead opting for a 135-day development pause. Elon Musk's xAI has made the city its "home," constructing three large AI data centers with plans to expand further. The residents, however, have been fighting against xAI, including suing the company and organizing community efforts to get it out.

This fight holds particular urgency in Memphis, a city with a history of environmental racism. At the council meeting, Justin Pearson, a Tennessee state representative and Democratic congressional nominee, spoke against the moratorium, citing respiratory illnesses in his family that are aggravated by the data centers' gas turbines.

Despite concerns about the ordinance not being thoroughly reviewed, the 135-day moratorium passed, while the 18-month ban failed on a 6-6 vote. The city's leadership, including the Greater Memphis Chamber of Commerce, has been pushing to position Memphis as the "digital delta" to attract tech companies, which has led to marketing to xAI employees and the emergence of Airbnb listings near the facilities.

The residents of Boxtown, a majority-Black neighborhood near the Colossus I data center, face cancer risks from air pollution four times the national average and lead the state in asthma emergency room visits. The city's struggle against xAI continues, with a federal district judge denying the US Department of Justice's attempt to dismiss a lawsuit by the NAACP, who argue that xAI violated the Clean Air Act.