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Colossus: How will TVA, MLGW keep up with xAI’s power needs?

By , Daily Memphian Published: April 06, 2025 4:00 AM CT

Elon Musk is worried about a giant dam in Tibet. Although the dam has yet to be built, China announced it planned to build one along the Yarlung Tsangpo River. 

This is the second part in a series of stories about Elon Musk’s supercomputer Colossus and its impact on Memphis.

Colossus, Part 1: The race to build the world’s most powerful machine in Memphis

The project — which will cost untold billions of dollars and potentially displace thousands, if not more, of people — promises to outstrip China’s other giant dam, the Three Gorges Dam that spans the Yangtze River, and generate even more power.

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Samuel Hardiman

Samuel Hardiman

Samuel Hardiman is an enterprise and investigative reporter who focuses on local government and politics. He began his journalism career at the Tulsa World in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he covered business and, later, K-12 education. Hardiman came to Memphis in 2018 to join the Memphis Business Journal, covering government and economic development. He then served as the Memphis Commercial Appeal’s city hall reporter and later joined The Daily Memphian in 2023. His current work focuses on Elon Musk’s xAI, regional energy needs and how Memphis and Shelby County government spend taxpayer dollars.


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