Elon Musk’s xAI said on Wednesday that it remains committed to building a water recycling plant in Memphis, which the company originally announced last year, but said that it was presently focused on “more immediate projects” related to its Colossus supercomputers, which power artificial intelligence (AI) products including Grok.
The company wrote in a post to X, “xAI is committed to building a state-of-the-art water recycling plant in Memphis,” which they said would eventually, “protect billions of gallons of water each year,” before confirming that it was not at the top of its priority list.
“The team is currently prioritizing other more immediate projects at the site but our plans to build the water plant have not changed,” xAI announced.
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… https://t.co/npMlSHw3kD
— xAI Memphis (@xAIMemphis) April 9, 2026
Described in a February 2025 press release as the “world’s largest ceramic membrane bioreactor,” xAI said its water recycling facility would allow the company to use Memphis’ wastewater to cool its supercomputer, and estimated the facility would begin operating by the end of last year.
“The project underscores xAI’s commitment to sustainable water management by utilizing municipal wastewater for cooling, thereby conserving precious drinking water and protecting the Memphis Sands Aquifer for the benefit of local communities,” the company said. “With its capacity to treat more wastewater than xAI requires, the plant will also provide surplus treated water to local industries, thus dramatically reducing the aquifer impact from existing users and setting a precedent for green practices in tech.”
Ground was reportedly broken at the facility last October, though it is unclear how much progress the company made since then.
The announcement from xAI comes about one month after the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) granted a permit for the company to operate a power plant with 41 natural gas turbines to power its operations in the area. A smaller number of turbines were approved for use in Tennessee last year.
While environmentalist groups have threatened xAI with litigation in both Mississippi and Tennessee, in the Volunteer State activists are bolstered by State Representative Justin Pearson (D-Memphis), who has rallied community support against the company. He’s since received support from the Jane Fonda Climate PAC.
Pearson is currently challenging U.S. Representative Steve Cohen (D-TN-09) for the Democratic Party’s nomination to represent Tennessee’s 9th Congressional District, meaning Musk’s company could find one of its enemies in Congress next year.
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Tom Pappert is a 2025 recipient of the Dao Prize and the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star. He also reports for the Star News Network. Follow Tom on X. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “XAI Memphis” by XAI Memphis.
