Elon Musk arrives at the tenth Breakthrough Prize Ceremony on Saturday, April 13, 2024, at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)
- Mississippi Development Authority Executive Director welcomed Tennessee “to the family of deep south states, like Mississippi, that are leading the way in advanced compute and technology.”
Elon Musk’s newest venture, xAI, plans to build the world’s largest supercomputer in Memphis, Tennessee.
Greater Memphis Chamber CEO Ted Townsend announced the multi-billion dollar “Gigafactory of Compute” on Wednesday, saying it will be the largest capital investment by a new-to-market company in Memphis history.
The project, still pending approval by local and state agencies, looks to occupy a former manufacturing facility. However, the specific site was not named.
It was welcomed news for the Mississippi Development Authority as Memphis sits just across the state line. Executive Director Bill Cork told Magnolia Tribune the south is a hub for artificial intelligence.
“We are excited to hear that the deep south is once again garnering national headlines for being a hub of Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and Large Language Modelling,” Cork said Wednesday afternoon. “The Memphis Metro area includes a good bit of Northwestern Mississippi and Southeastern Arkansas, and we often work together to make sure that all boats rise with the tide.”
Cork congratulated the Memphis team and welcomed Tennessee “to the family of deep south states, like Mississippi, that are leading the way in advanced compute and technology.”
xAI states that the company is working on building artificial intelligence to accelerate human scientific discovery, guided by a mission to advance the collective understanding of the universe.
Musk’s team announced the formation of xAI in July 2023. At the end of May, the company revealed that key investors including Valor Equity Partners, Vy Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia Capital, Fidelity Management & Research Company, Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal and Kingdom Holding, amongst others, had provided $6 billion in funding.
xAI says it is hiring for numerous roles and seeks talented individuals ready to join a small team focused on making a meaningful impact on the future of humanity.
Frank Corder
