US House Democrat asks Musk to answer for polluting xAI data centers
A drone view shows the xAI Colossus 2 "Macrohard" data centre in Southaven, Mississippi, U.S., May 30, 2026. REUTERS/Kevin Wurm ·
Wed, July 29, 2026
July 29 (Reuters) - U.S. Representative Frank Pallone, the top Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, on Wednesday demanded documents and answers from Elon Musk about the environmental and public health impacts of his xAI Colossus data center operations in Tennessee and Mississippi.
• Pallone sent a letter to Musk seeking information on turbines used at the Colossus 1 and Colossus 2 artificial intelligence data centers, emissions data, permitting records and communications with government officials.
• Pallone also requested analyses related to the facilities' emissions, power consumption and water usage, and asked to arrange a visit to the sites with committee staff.
• The New Jersey Democrat said Musk's SpaceX, which owns xAI, had been unwilling to provide sufficient information during a meeting with committee staff last month and accused the company of showing "disregard for the health and well-being of local communities."
• The letter follows growing scrutiny of the energy demands and environmental impacts of AI data centers as technology companies race to expand computing capacity.
• Reuters reported this month that Musk's AI company xAI had installed 59 natural gas turbines for its Colossus 2 project without securing federal clean-air permits, according to communications between regulators and company representatives. Reuters found the turbines were located near predominantly Black communities and that potential emissions exceeded thresholds that would typically require federal permits.
• SpaceX did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
(Reporting by Nichola Groom; Editing by David Gregorio)
US House Democrat asks Musk to answer for polluting xAI data centers
Wed, July 29, 2026
July 29 (Reuters) - U.S. Representative Frank Pallone, the top Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, on Wednesday demanded documents and answers from Elon Musk about the environmental and public health impacts of his xAI Colossus data center operations in Tennessee and Mississippi.
• Pallone sent a letter to Musk seeking information on turbines used at the Colossus 1 and Colossus 2 artificial intelligence data centers, emissions data, permitting records and communications with government officials.
• Pallone also requested analyses related to the facilities' emissions, power consumption and water usage, and asked to arrange a visit to the sites with committee staff.
• The New Jersey Democrat said Musk's SpaceX, which owns xAI, had been unwilling to provide sufficient information during a meeting with committee staff last month and accused the company of showing "disregard for the health and well-being of local communities."
• The letter follows growing scrutiny of the energy demands and environmental impacts of AI data centers as technology companies race to expand computing capacity.
• Reuters reported this month that Musk's AI company xAI had installed 59 natural gas turbines for its Colossus 2 project without securing federal clean-air permits, according to communications between regulators and company representatives. Reuters found the turbines were located near predominantly Black communities and that potential emissions exceeded thresholds that would typically require federal permits.
• SpaceX did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
(Reporting by Nichola Groom; Editing by David Gregorio)
Musk Touted Data Centers in Space to SpaceX IPO Investors. Peter Zeihan Calls the Idea 'So Many Levels of Dumb'
Daragh Thomas
July 26, 2026
Elon Musk's SpaceX pitched orbital data centers as a central part of its record-breaking IPO, but geopolitical analyst Peter Zeihan says the physics may not cooperate.
In a recent video, Zeihan argued a one-gigawatt orbital data center would require roughly 500 Starship launches to assemble.
High-end chips cannot survive radiation in space, Zeihan said, so the entire facility would need shielding. That shielding would weigh roughly 20 million pounds.
"There's so many levels of dumb to this," Zeihan said, adding that anyone raising funds on the concept "thinks you're stupid."
Space Is Cold, But It Doesn't Cool
GPUs run extremely hot, and on Earth, data centers use air and water to carry that heat away. Space has neither, so there is nothing to carry the heat off. The only way out is radiator fins, spanning tens of square kilometers. Zeihan estimated those radiators alone would cost $250 billion.
Wall Street analysts are less brutal, but not by much. Energy research firm Wood Mackenzie recently modeled the full cost of a 1 GW orbital data center at roughly $170 billion. Much less than Zeihan's estimates, but still three times the cost for an Earth-based facility.
What SpaceX Actually Promised
Following its February acquisition of xAI, SpaceX pitched itself to IPO investors as a vertically integrated AI company, not just a launch provider.
Its S-1 says orbital AI compute satellites could begin deploying as early as 2028. The company claims these satellites will carry over 100 kilowatts of compute per metric ton, with a long-term target of 100 gigawatts launched per year.
For now, the real money remains on Earth. Anthropic agreed in May to pay SpaceX $1.25 billion per month through May 2029 for capacity at its terrestrial Colossus data centers, a deal either side can end with 90 days' notice.
The filing's own risk factors concede that orbital compute involves unproven technologies, or "technologies that do not exist," and may not achieve commercial viability.
Kalshi traders give a 1-megawatt orbital data center just a 14% chance of going live before January 2029, despite the S-1's 2028 target. Odds rise to only 39% before 2035.
SpaceX plans Texas data center expansion, The Information reports
Work continues on the gigabay at the SpaceX production facility in Starbase, Texas ·
Reuters
Reuters
July 22, 2026
July 22 (Reuters) - SpaceX is preparing for at least one new large-scale data center in Texas, The Information reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter.
The expansion would significantly increase the company's AI computing capacity beyond its existing Memphis-area hub, where it operates two data centers with about 1 gigawatt of compute capacity.
Here are some details:
• SpaceX has explored several potential data center sites in Texas in recent months, according to the report.
• The company is considering building multiple data centers from scratch and retrofitting an existing warehouse, the report added.
• SpaceX did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
• The company aims for a Texas expansion on a similar or larger scale than its existing Memphis-area facilities, the report said.
• SpaceX has already sent some existing data center staff to Texas in preparation for the expansion, according to The Information.
• SpaceX signed AI computing deals with Anthropic in May and Google in June, broadening its efforts to monetize its AI infrastructure.
(Reporting by Anzar Mehraj in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim Zahid)
Elon Musk is looking for trades workers to build AI data centers — and his (IN) famous 3-bullet-point requirement applies
Natalie Musumeci
Mon, August 3, 2026
Business Insider
Elon Musk is looking to hire skilled trades workers for his AI data center buildout.
He said in an X post that SpaceX is hiring talent to build data centers "on & off Earth."
Applicants were asked to email "3 bullet points demonstrating evidence of exceptional ability."
Elon Musk is reviving one of his famed hiring tactics as he recruits skilled trades workers for the AI data center buildout by his rocket company, SpaceX.
Musk, in an X post last week, said SpaceX is hiring "exceptional engineering & skilled trades talent to build & operate the most powerful AI supercomputer clusters on & off Earth."
The "off Earth" reference reflects Musk's vision of placing data centers in space as a potential solution to AI's soaring energy demands.
Interested applicants were asked to email "3 bullet points demonstrating evidence of exceptional ability," along with their resume, to datacenters@spacex.com.
The three-bullet-point requirement has become a hallmark of the world's richest man's recruiting style.
The Tesla and SpaceX CEO has previously asked potential candidates for white-collar roles at his companies to provide three bullet points "demonstrating evidence of exceptional ability" or three bullet points on the "toughest technical problems" they've solved.
Musk's hiring push for trades workers to build data centers comes as SpaceX plays an increasingly central role in his AI ambitions. Earlier this year, SpaceX acquired Musk's AI startup, xAI, which was rebranded as SpaceXAI.
SpaceXAI now operates Colossus, the massive AI supercomputer campus built in Memphis, Tennessee, that trains the company's Grok AI models.
Elon Musk is looking to hire skilled trades workers for his AI data center buildout.
He said in an X post that SpaceX is hiring talent to build data centers "on & off Earth."
Applicants were asked to email "3 bullet points demonstrating evidence of exceptional ability."
Elon Musk is reviving one of his famed hiring tactics as he recruits skilled trades workers for the AI data center buildout by his rocket company, SpaceX.
Musk, in an X post last week, said SpaceX is hiring "exceptional engineering & skilled trades talent to build & operate the most powerful AI supercomputer clusters on & off Earth."
The "off Earth" reference reflects Musk's vision of placing data centers in space as a potential solution to AI's soaring energy demands.
Interested applicants were asked to email "3 bullet points demonstrating evidence of exceptional ability," along with their resume, to datacenters@spacex.com.
The three-bullet-point requirement has become a hallmark of the world's richest man's recruiting style.
The Tesla and SpaceX CEO has previously asked potential candidates for white-collar roles at his companies to provide three bullet points "demonstrating evidence of exceptional ability" or three bullet points on the "toughest technical problems" they've solved.
Musk's hiring push for trades workers to build data centers comes as SpaceX plays an increasingly central role in his AI ambitions. Earlier this year, SpaceX acquired Musk's AI startup, xAI, which was rebranded as SpaceXAI.
SpaceXAI now operates Colossus, the massive AI supercomputer campus built in Memphis, Tennessee, that trains the company's Grok AI models.
NASA Chief Jared Isaacman Says 'Never Bet Against' Elon Musk, Adds 'We Can't Do It Without' SpaceX for Moon Base
Badar Shaikh
July 28, 2026
NASA Administrator and former Shift4 Payments Inc. (NYSE:FOUR) CEO Jared Isaacman has backed Elon Musk and Space Exploration Technologies Corp.'s (NASDAQ:SPCX) goal of establishing space-based compute capacity via orbital data centers.
AI Race Healthy for NASA
During an appearance on the Moonshot podcast on Monday, Isaacman said that the Artificial Intelligence race was "extremely healthy" for NASA. He then said that if "Elon and SpaceX are betting on this [orbital data centers], there is no reason to believe this will not come into existence."
Read Also:Musk Touted Data Centers in Space to SpaceX IPO Investors. Peter Zeihan Calls the Idea 'So Many Levels of Dumb'
Isaacman then said that one should "never bet against an extremely well-capitalized Elon." He also shed some light upon SpaceX's IPO, saying that NASA's partners, like SpaceX, being "extremely well-capitalized" was a good thing and that the engineers at SpaceX, with Musk at the helm, left "no doubt" that orbital data centers will happen.
The NASA administrator also said that SpaceX was crucial in the agency's goal of establishing a permanent presence on the moon. "We can't do it without them," Isaacman said in the podcast. He also called Musk the "greatest entrepreneur and engineer in recent history."
Elon Musk on Orbital Data Centers, Starship
Musk, on several occasions, touted orbital data centers, with the SpaceX CEO most recently saying that the company was preparing to build the technology as soon as next year. SpaceX also revealed its AI1 satellites, which are purpose-built to carry out compute in orbit. The satellites would be a part of SpaceX's Starmind constellation.
SpaceX also carried out the 13th flight test of its flagship rocket, Starship, from the company's headquarters in Starbase, Texas. Musk also said that the launch had much higher acceleration, which was intentional, as SpaceX sought to test the rocket's heat shields.
According to Benzinga Edge Rankings, SpaceX fails to provide a favorable price trend in the Short, Medium and Long term.
Price Action: SpaceX shares were down 1.23% to $112.10 during overnight trading on Monday
SpaceXAI Eyes Texas Data Center Expansion As It Pushes Into AI Cloud Market: Report ·
Stocktwits
Rounak Jain
July 22, 2026
SpaceXAI is looking to expand its AI computing capacity beyond its existing Memphis hub as it seeks to become a major cloud provider.
The report said a Texas expansion could match or exceed the scale of SpaceXAI's existing facilities, which house around a gigawatt of compute capacity and hundreds of thousands of Nvidia GPUs.
SpaceXAI has also begun sending existing data center staff to Texas and recently posted job openings tied to data center development and construction in the state.
Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SPCX) subsidiary, SpaceXAI, is considering an expansion of its footprint in Texas with at least one new large-scale data center.
According to a report by The Information citing people familiar with the matter, SpaceXAI has explored several potential data center sites in Texas over the past few months.
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SpaceX shares were down 1% in Wednesday's opening trade.
Rounak Jain
July 22, 2026
SpaceXAI is looking to expand its AI computing capacity beyond its existing Memphis hub as it seeks to become a major cloud provider.
The report said a Texas expansion could match or exceed the scale of SpaceXAI's existing facilities, which house around a gigawatt of compute capacity and hundreds of thousands of Nvidia GPUs.
SpaceXAI has also begun sending existing data center staff to Texas and recently posted job openings tied to data center development and construction in the state.
Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SPCX) subsidiary, SpaceXAI, is considering an expansion of its footprint in Texas with at least one new large-scale data center.
According to a report by The Information citing people familiar with the matter, SpaceXAI has explored several potential data center sites in Texas over the past few months.
See what 10M+ investors are talking about. Get the Stocktwits Daily Rip for what retail is watching right now, free to your inbox
SpaceX shares were down 1% in Wednesday's opening trade.
SPCX's AI Cloud Push
SpaceXAI is looking to expand its AI computing capacity beyond its existing Memphis hub as it seeks to become a major cloud provider. The company has recently signed agreements to lease large portions of its compute capacity to customers including Anthropic and Alphabet Inc.'s (GOOG, GOOGL) Google, creating a new revenue stream alongside its Grok AI offerings.
The report said a Texas expansion could match or exceed the scale of SpaceXAI's existing facilities, which house around a gigawatt of compute capacity and hundreds of thousands of Nvidia Corp.'s (NVDA) GPUs. SpaceXAI has also begun sending existing data center staff to Texas and recently posted job openings tied to data center development and construction in the state.
The report added that SpaceXAI is weighing multiple approaches for the expansion, including building new facilities from the ground up and converting existing warehouses into AI data centers, similar to how it repurposed a former manufacturing facility for its first Memphis site.
SpaceXAI, formerly known as xAI, became a SpaceX subsidiary following an acquisition in February this year.
SpaceXAI's Growing Data Center Ambitions
SpaceXAI has significantly expanded its data center workforce over the past year, adding more than 40 hires to its Colossus team, according to the report. Following SpaceX's merger with the AI unit in February, employees from the aerospace company have also been brought in to support data center operations.
The report said the company has explored a Texas expansion for several months while reshuffling leadership overseeing its AI infrastructure. After xAI co-founder Ross Nordeen departed in March, SpaceXAI President Michael Nicolls appointed Jake Palmer to lead physical infrastructure and SpaceX software engineering director Daniel Dueri to oversee compute infrastructure.
To power its growing AI footprint, SpaceXAI has relied heavily on natural gas turbines alongside grid electricity, the report added. The company has installed dozens of mobile turbines in Tennessee and Mississippi and is developing a permanent gas-fired power plant in Mississippi through a joint venture with Solaris Energy Infrastructure.
SPCX In Talks To Power Pentagon's AI Push
According to a report by The Wall Street Journal, SpaceX is in talks with the Defense Department to provide the agency with data center capacity worth billions of dollars.
The report added that SpaceX is also considering plans to compete directly with neocloud providers like CoreWeave Inc. (CRWV), offering AI compute capacity at a lower price.
A Pentagon deal for data center capacity would build on SpaceX's existing deal with the agency to provide access to its AI model. The Defense Department also signed similar deals with six other companies, including Nvidia, Google, Amazon.com Inc.'s (AMZN) AWS, OpenAI, Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), and Reflection AI.
What Retail Traders Think Of SPCX Stock
Retail sentiment on Stocktwits around SpaceX trended in the 'bearish' territory at the time of writing.
SPCX stock is down 18% year-to-date. The Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) and the Invesco NASDAQ 100 ETF (QQQM) are up 26% over the past 12 months.
For updates and corrections, email newsroom[at]stocktwits[dot]com.
Rounak Jain has no position in any of the stocks mentioned in this article. StockTwits' news team content is for informational purposes only and is not intended as investment advice. For more, see our editorial policy. This article was originally published on StockTwits.
Musk Denies Report of $52 Billion AI Server Order
SpaceXAI is looking to expand its AI computing capacity beyond its existing Memphis hub as it seeks to become a major cloud provider. The company has recently signed agreements to lease large portions of its compute capacity to customers including Anthropic and Alphabet Inc.'s (GOOG, GOOGL) Google, creating a new revenue stream alongside its Grok AI offerings.
The report said a Texas expansion could match or exceed the scale of SpaceXAI's existing facilities, which house around a gigawatt of compute capacity and hundreds of thousands of Nvidia Corp.'s (NVDA) GPUs. SpaceXAI has also begun sending existing data center staff to Texas and recently posted job openings tied to data center development and construction in the state.
The report added that SpaceXAI is weighing multiple approaches for the expansion, including building new facilities from the ground up and converting existing warehouses into AI data centers, similar to how it repurposed a former manufacturing facility for its first Memphis site.
SpaceXAI, formerly known as xAI, became a SpaceX subsidiary following an acquisition in February this year.
SpaceXAI's Growing Data Center Ambitions
SpaceXAI has significantly expanded its data center workforce over the past year, adding more than 40 hires to its Colossus team, according to the report. Following SpaceX's merger with the AI unit in February, employees from the aerospace company have also been brought in to support data center operations.
The report said the company has explored a Texas expansion for several months while reshuffling leadership overseeing its AI infrastructure. After xAI co-founder Ross Nordeen departed in March, SpaceXAI President Michael Nicolls appointed Jake Palmer to lead physical infrastructure and SpaceX software engineering director Daniel Dueri to oversee compute infrastructure.
To power its growing AI footprint, SpaceXAI has relied heavily on natural gas turbines alongside grid electricity, the report added. The company has installed dozens of mobile turbines in Tennessee and Mississippi and is developing a permanent gas-fired power plant in Mississippi through a joint venture with Solaris Energy Infrastructure.
SPCX In Talks To Power Pentagon's AI Push
According to a report by The Wall Street Journal, SpaceX is in talks with the Defense Department to provide the agency with data center capacity worth billions of dollars.
The report added that SpaceX is also considering plans to compete directly with neocloud providers like CoreWeave Inc. (CRWV), offering AI compute capacity at a lower price.
A Pentagon deal for data center capacity would build on SpaceX's existing deal with the agency to provide access to its AI model. The Defense Department also signed similar deals with six other companies, including Nvidia, Google, Amazon.com Inc.'s (AMZN) AWS, OpenAI, Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), and Reflection AI.
What Retail Traders Think Of SPCX Stock
Retail sentiment on Stocktwits around SpaceX trended in the 'bearish' territory at the time of writing.
SPCX stock is down 18% year-to-date. The Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) and the Invesco NASDAQ 100 ETF (QQQM) are up 26% over the past 12 months.
For updates and corrections, email newsroom[at]stocktwits[dot]com.
Rounak Jain has no position in any of the stocks mentioned in this article. StockTwits' news team content is for informational purposes only and is not intended as investment advice. For more, see our editorial policy. This article was originally published on StockTwits.
Musk Denies Report of $52 Billion AI Server Order
Faizan Farooque
July 20, 2026
This article first appeared on GuruFocus.
SpaceX (SPCX, Financials), the aerospace business led by Elon Musk, disputed claims that it had agreed to buy Nvidia-powered AI servers from Foxconn for billions of dollars.
Musk slammed the idea as fake news on a post on X. The comment came following rumors that SpaceX was set to install more than 13,000 server racks based on Nvidia's GB300 architecture.
It was not a declared contract price but a value of roughly $52 billion against an estimated cost of about $4 million per rack.
The project has been reported but not confirmed and neither SpaceX, Nvidia nor Foxconn immediately responded beyond Musk's article.
The news initially sparked speculation that SpaceX was planning a massive expansion of its AI processing capability, with Foxconn said to be building the devices.
The deal might also help Foxconn's AI division grow beyond current forecasts, it said.
But the estimate has been questioned since it was published and it indicates a growing appetite from investors for large-scale AI infrastructure spending as tech companies scramble to get processing power.
Now the focus is on whether SpaceX, Nvidia or Foxconn disclose further specifics that clarify their AI infrastructure plans.
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