Colossus 2: 46 gas units against a permit for 41, within two months

The second site

Colossus 2 sits on Tulane Road in Southaven, Mississippi, just over the state line from Memphis. SemiAnalysis described it in September 2025 as the first gigawatt-class data centre in the world under construction; one infrastructure analysis counts at least 110,000 GB200 GPUs on the site with a target of 550,000. The grid cannot supply a load of that size on xAI's timetable, so the site, like its predecessor, runs on gas.

The permit and the count

In March 2026 xAI secured permission to install 41 natural-gas turbines at the site. In May, Data Center Dynamics reported, citing records obtained by the Southern Environmental Law Center, that the company had installed 19 portable turbines between late March and early May, bringing the total to 46 gas units and apparently beyond the permitted number. The 19 new units alone were reported to offer more than 500 MW. Elon Musk has said the cluster will eventually reach 2 GW, with turbines key to supplying it.

The pattern

Colossus 1: 15 permitted, 35 counted. Colossus 2: 41 permitted, 46 counted within two months. The index records the combined 81 turbines on xAI's profile as a disclosed figure, drawn from permit records and SELC's observations rather than from the company, which publishes nothing. It is the only fossil-generator figure on the site built from observed units.

The water

Colossus 1 draws more than a million gallons a day; the greywater plant xAI promised to spare the Memphis Sand aquifer was paused in April 2026 so that the company could, in Musk's words, "focus on finishing Colossus 2". The two incidents are linked on the profile: the second site's completion is the stated reason the first site's water remedy is delayed.

In the index

xAI's carbon pillar is 12 and its conduct pillar 8; the overall score of 19 is fifteen points below the next company. The methodology's lowest rubric bands, on-site fossil generation for primary power and permit violations with pending litigation, were written with one site in mind. There are now two.