JACKSON, Miss. — Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves announced that xAI will spend $20 billion to build a data center in Southaven, Mississippi, in DeSoto County near Memphis, Tennessee.
Reeves said the project, called MACROHARDRR, would be the largest private investment in the state’s history. He also said the investment would bring hundreds of permanent jobs to the community, thousands of indirect subcontracting jobs, and tax revenue to support public services.
Reeves said xAI’s Southaven-area development would be the company’s third data center in the greater Memphis area. xAI CFO Anthony Armstrong said the cluster of data centers would house “the world’s largest supercomputer” with 2 gigawatts of computing power.
The announcement came as xAI faced scrutiny over its Memphis-area data center projects, according to the AP. The NAACP and the Southern Environmental Law Center raised concerns about air pollution generated by an xAI supercomputer facility located near predominantly Black communities in Memphis.
A petition by the Safe and Sound Coalition, a Southaven group opposing xAI’s developments, called for shutting down xAI’s operations in the area and had received more than 900 signatures as of Thursday afternoon. The AP reported that xAI did not immediately respond when asked for comment about environmental concerns.
Mississippi’s governor’s office released a fact sheet stating that environmental responsibility is a “core commitment” for xAI. During the announcement, Reeves thanked Elon Musk personally and predicted the investment would support public services through tax revenue.
The AP reported that under incentives for data centers passed in 2024, Mississippi would waive all sales, corporate income and franchise taxes on the xAI development. The Mississippi Development Authority did not immediately respond to the AP’s questions about how much tax revenue the state would give up, the AP said.
The AP also reported that DeSoto County and the city of Southaven agreed to allow substantially reduced property taxes. xAI is expected to begin data center operations in Southaven next month.