Tech leader xAI investing more than $20 billion in Southaven

JACKSON, Miss. - xAI, the American artificial intelligence company founded by Elon Musk, is locating a data center in Southaven. The project will represent a corporate investment exceeding $20 billion and will create hundreds of permanent jobs throughout DeSoto County.

xAI has purchased and is retrofitting a building to house the new data center operations. The data center, which will be known as MACROHARDRR, is in proximity to xAI's newly acquired power plant site in Southaven and one of the company's existing data centers in Tennessee. Upon completion, the Southaven data center will increase the company's computing power to nearly 2 gigawatts.

In addition to building rehabilitation, xAI's substantial investment will also provide tax revenue to support public safety, health and human services, education, fire fighters, police, parks and other initiatives that benefit the City of Southaven.

The Mississippi Development Authority has approved xAI for its Data Center Incentive, which provides a sales and use tax exemption for all computing and equipment software used by companies certified as data centers by the agency. The City of Southaven and DeSoto County are also supporting xAI's projects through fee-in-lieu agreements.

Headquartered in Silicon Valley, xAI was founded in 2023 to develop advanced AI technologies to accomplish its mission to understand the universe. The company operates in the AI, social media and technology sectors. Its flagship product is Grok, a generative AI chatbot integrated with the social media platform X. The company also offers application programming interface tools such as image generation, voice and agent tools, along with the xAI For Government suite of products for American federal, state and local government uses.

The company expects to begin data center operations in Southaven in February 2026.

A fact sheet with additional details on xAI's Southaven data center project can be found here.

QUOTES

"This record-shattering $20 billion investment is an amazing start to what is sure to be another incredible year for economic development in Mississippi. Today, Elon Musk is bringing xAI to DeSoto County, a project that will transform the region and bring amazing opportunities to its residents for generations. This is the largest economic development project in Mississippi's history. It sets the pace for continued high-tech investments across our state and strengthens Mississippi's position as a leader in this exciting tech revolution. There is truly no better time to invest in Mississippi." - Gov. Tate Reeves

"xAI is scaling at an immeasurable pace - we are building our third massive data center in the greater Memphis area. MACROHARDRR pushes our Colossus training compute to ~2GW - by far the most powerful AI system on Earth. This is insane execution speed by xAI and the state of Mississippi. We are grateful to Governor Reeves for his support of building xAI at warp speed." - xAI CEO Elon Musk

"Starting off 2026 with a $20 billion investment by xAI is a clear sign Mississippi is not letting up on the economic momentum we have built over the last few years. Our focus on speed, certainty and readiness allows companies to move quickly and with confidence, while also enabling Mississippi to compete for capital-intensive, advanced technology projects like xAI. These investments bring new, high-quality jobs to the people of Mississippi and place our state at the center of the 'Digital Delta.' We are proud to partner with the xAI team as we continue building the future of tech innovation right here in Mississippi."- Mississippi Development Authority Executive Director Bill Cork