--- title: "Nearby Residents Say Elon Musk’s Gigantic Supercomputer Is Making Them Sick" description: "Elon Musk's pet AI chatbot, Grok, is a world-beater when it comes to generating [vile racist remarks]() on an enormous scale. Who can forget over the summer when, unprompted, Grok [dubbed itself]() \"MechaHitler,\" and started \"recommending a second Holocaust\"?" date: "2025-12-03" modified: "2025-12-03" authors: - name: "Joe Wilkins" job_title: "Correspondent" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jwilkins" url: "https://futurism.com/future-society/elon-musk-colossus-memphis" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" - "Elon Musk" - "Ethics" - "Future Society" - "The Industrialists" --- # Nearby Residents Say Elon Musk’s Gigantic Supercomputer Is Making Them Sick ![Residents of Boxtown, Tennessee say Elon Musk's xAI "Colossus Supercomputer" is turning the air into a noxious chemical brew.]() *Illustration by Tag Hartman-Simkins / Futurism. Source: Kevin Dietsch / Getty Images* Elon Musk's pet AI chatbot, Grok, is a world-beater when it comes to generating [vile racist remarks]() on an enormous scale. Who can forget over the summer when, unprompted, Grok [dubbed itself]() "MechaHitler," and started "recommending a second Holocaust"? Sadly, all that digital hate speech come**s** at a high price: the health of those unfortunate souls who live next to the data center that makes Grok possible. Located in the Memphis neighborhood of Boxtown, Tennessee, xAI's "Colossus supercomputer" data center has been mired in controversy ever since its inception, pumping [noxious gasses]() into the air and [drying out local faucets](). For Musk, it's the key piece of infrastructure behind AI ambitions — the facility keeping him in the AI race with other tech magnates like Sam Altman and Mark Zuckerberg. For the predominantly black residents of Boxtown, however, Colossus is turning their neighborhood into a putrid nightmare. Speaking [to *The Times*](), 81-year-old Boxtown resident Willie Joe Stafford blamed the mucus he regularly hacks up is the result of Colossus' pollution. "The people who live round here are blacks," he said. "So they think they can do what they want." Another resident, Sarah Gladney, explained that xAI has changed the character of the neighborhood, which wasn't exactly pretty before. "Prior to xAI, we were dealing with more of a waste smell. Like poop. This is more like a chemical-type smell," she explained. At 71, Gladney told the publication she hardly ever opens her windows for fresh air, and no longer goes on her daily walks. "We have to put our lungs up in exchange for profit," 66-year-old Boxtown resident Batsell Booker told *The Times*. His daughter, Booker said, is recovering from cancer — a disease Boxtown has no shortage of. "It's just not fair, it's not morally right," he continued. "I'm all for technology. My grandson works in cybersecurity. My battle is over them bringing more pollution into a small already polluted black neighborhood." If the first facility weren't bad enough, it may be poised to get even worse. Back in October, [it was reported]() that Musk was close to finishing another data center, "Colossus 2," located near the first one. To power this one, Musk bought out an [entire power plant]() — the fallout of which remains to be seen. **More on Musk:** *[Elon Boasts That His AI Can Generate a Beautiful Woman Saying “I Will Always Love You”]()* ## Author At Futurism, I focus on the intersection of technology and power — examining the economics, history, and politics behind today’s dystopian headlines. As a writer, I’m interested in topics ranging from AI’s impact on labor to startups nobody asked for. My prior work includes bylines in Jacobin, Verso, and Blue Labyrinths. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Forbes, The Guardian, MIT Technology Review, Time, The Nation, Mother Jones, The Verge, and Wired. I grew up in Michigan, attending Central Michigan University as well as Ball State University, where I earned a master of music. I now live in Brooklyn with my girlfriend and our cat Ziti. On weekends, you can find me hunched over a cold pint arguing geopolitics with the other transplants. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()