Businessman and investor Elon Musk plans to build the world’s largest supercomputer in Memphis, representing the city’s largest capital investment by a new-to-market company in its history.
Musk’s company, xAI, would build its supercomputer, called Gigafactory of Compute, in an existing former manufacturing facility, if approved by local entities.
The Greater Memphis Chamber called Musk’s investment in the city a sign of “new era of growth and innovation for Memphis.”
“Our Chamber is built for this,” said Ted Townsend, president & CEO of the Greater Memphis Chamber. “In less than three weeks, the Chamber’s economic development team demonstrated remarkable coordination, swiftly providing solutions and rallying partners faster than any other community. From the initial three weeks until today, Memphis emerged as a global nexus where velocity meets potency, which are attractive attributes to the xAI team.”
xAI’s project is pending approval by the Memphis Shelby County Economic Development Growth Engine (EDGE), Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), and governing authorities.
Many elected officials applauded Musk’s investment in Memphis, including the city’s mayor, Paul Young.
“Memphis is a city of innovators, so it’s no surprise that it feels like home to those looking to change the world,” Young said. “We get things done here. We have great partners at the Greater Memphis Chamber and MLGW who were ready to make this happen. We had an ideal site, ripe for investment. And we had the power of our people who created new and innovative processes to keep up with the pace required to land this transformational project.”
State Senator Brent Taylor (R-Memphis) said Musk’s investment “has the potential to transform Memphis.”
“I am pleased to see my efforts to Make Memphis Matter are not in vain,” Taylor said. “Elon Musk’s investment in our community has the potential to transform Memphis, and his willingness to move xAI here shows my narrative about getting tough on crime pays dividends.”
State Representative John Gillespie (R-Memphis) called the news “exciting,” adding, “Tennessee is a champion for recruiting new businesses. Looking forward to all the great opportunities this brings to our community.”
Members of the Tennessee congressional delegation also applauded Musk’s historic investment in Memphis.
U.S. Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN) said, “This investment corroborates our state’s position as a leader in technological advances and discoveries and will expand our Artificial Intelligence capabilities to solve complex science and security problems.”
“With this project, Tennessee will remain at the forefront of AI at a critical time for this rapidly evolving field of research,” Hagerty added.
U.S. Representative David Kustoff (R-TN-08), whose district includes the eastern part of the Memphis area, added that Musk’s investment will “lead us into the next generation of technology and transform West Tennessee into an innovation hub.”
Democrat U.S. Representative Steve Cohen (D-TN-09), whose district also covers Memphis, said, “Like I always say, Memphis has a ton of momentum behind it right now.”
“The decision to build #xAI, the world’s largest supercomputer, in our city is more evidence of that. From #AI to EVs, clean energy, manufacturing, transportation & logistics & more, we do it all in #Memphis,” Cohen added.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
