Elon Musk at the UK AI Summit in November 2023. Image: Rory Arnold/No 10 Downing Street/Flickr (CC BY 2.0)
After raising $6bn from various high-profile investors, xAI is trying to build the world’s largest supercomputer in Memphis to fuel its AI ambitions.
Elon Musk’s AI start-up – xAI – is planning to build a supercomputer in Memphis, according to the Greater Memphis Chamber.
The US city’s economic development organisation did not disclose the financial details of the project, but said it would be the city’s “largest capital investment by a new-to-market company” in Memphis history. The project is pending approval by governing authorities.
The project aims to build xAI’s “Gigafactory of Compute” – an ambitious goal by the start-up to create the world’s largest supercomputer to develop its various AI products. The Information revealed details of this plan last month and claimed Musk promised investors that the supercomputer will be running by autumn 2025.
While the project is still pending approval, various senators are speaking about the plan as if it is a done deal. Senator Bill Hagerty congratulated Musk on X and said the project will help the US state of Tennessee to remain “at the forefront of AI”.
“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,” Hagerty said.
Some media sites such as the Memphis Business Journal claim the supercomputer will be located at a former Electrolux facility.
Musk’s venture into AI was announced last year and has shared extremely ambitious goals such as using AI to “understand the true nature of the universe”– despite Musk having previously made public statements about his fears around AI.
The start-up made a move into the generative AI space with the launch of Grok, its chatbot with a “rebellious streak” as a competitor to popular models such as ChatGPT. Since then, xAI has worked on various AI models and has released some open-source offerings.
The move to develop a supercomputer comes shortly after xAI raised $6bn from various high-profile investors including Andreessen Horowitz and Sequoia Capital.
But Musk’s focus on xAI may be causing tension among Tesla shareholders. A recent report by CNBC claims Musk ordered Nvidia to ship thousands of AI chips that were reserved for Tesla to X and xAI instead.
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Elon Musk at the UK AI Summit in November 2023. Image: Rory Arnold/No 10 Downing Street/Flickr (CC BY 2.0)
