Latest news with #Colossus'
Leaders
17-07-2025
- Business
- Leaders
Musk's xAI Explores Data Center Deal with Saudi-Backed Humain
Elon Musk's artificial intelligence venture, xAI, is in early-stage discussions to lease data center capacity in Saudi Arabia, according to people familiar with the matter. The move is part of xAI's broader strategy to expand its computing infrastructure in regions with low-cost energy and political alignment. xAI is in talks with two potential partners: Humain, a Saudi-backed AI firm offering a multi-gigawatt capacity deal, and a second unnamed company currently developing a smaller, 200-megawatt facility that could be operational much sooner. The individuals requested anonymity as the discussions are private. While Humain's offer is ambitious, it's still years away from being realized. Despite support from Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, the company has yet to break ground on much of the promised infrastructure. Any agreement with xAI would therefore be a long-term bet, with no immediate impact on the startup's current computing needs. The second potential partner, already in the process of constructing its 200-megawatt facility, presents a more viable short-term solution. In both scenarios, xAI would lease — not own — space in the data centers to power its AI models, which require significant computational resources. xAI,Humain Representatives for xAI, Elon Musk, and Humain declined to comment. The competition for data center capacity is intensifying as companies like xAI, OpenAI, and Meta race to train and run large AI models, including chatbots such as xAI's Grok. These facilities are expensive to build and energy-intensive to operate. If Humain's multi-gigawatt proposal comes to fruition, it could rank among the largest data centers globally — a one-gigawatt center can consume as much electricity as nearly 900,000 homes annually, according to Carbon Collective. 'It makes a lot of sense. As power demand rises, balancing energy costs with operational needs will be key,' said Kathryn Huff, former head of nuclear energy at the U.S. Department of Energy and now at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Speaking on Bloomberg Television, Huff suggested that countries investing in new nuclear infrastructure may become appealing hosts for data centers. Within Humain, infrastructure development is being led by Jeff Thomas, while commercial negotiations are managed by Saeed Al-Dobas. The project is also seen as an extension of Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal's broader efforts to strengthen ties between Musk and the kingdom, including previous investments in xAI. The possible partnership with Saudi Arabia reflects Musk's global search for AI infrastructure in locations where electricity is cheap and financing is plentiful. The initiative comes as Musk faces mounting regulatory and political friction in the U.S., even while maintaining close ties with former President Donald Trump. xAI has already built a massive facility in Memphis, home to its 'Colossus' supercomputer, and Musk has hinted at another nearby expansion. Recently, xAI secured $10 billion in funding, evenly split between equity and debt. Musk has stated publicly that the company is well-capitalized, though how and where it will deploy that funding remains in flux. Ross Nordeen, a founding member of xAI and a former Tesla employee, is leading infrastructure negotiations for the startup. He is regarded internally as a key strategist and dealmaker, similar in role to Musk confidant Omead Afshar during their time at Tesla. On the technical side, former Tesla and X executive Andree Jacobson is helping steer development. In addition to Saudi Arabia, xAI is also exploring data center deals in the UAE and has held discussions with Abu Dhabi-based AI firm G42. Talks have also extended to several African countries with lower energy and operational costs. However, Saudi Arabia's combination of sovereign wealth and access to specialized AI chips currently makes it the most attractive prospect, according to two sources familiar with the situation. Related Topics: Saudi PIF Chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan Spotted Sitting Next to Trump and Elon Musk at UFC Trump Names Elon Musk to Overhaul Government Efficiency Elon Musk in Future Investment Initiative: Robots to Exceed Humans by 2040 Short link : Post Views: 33
United News of India
14-07-2025
- Automotive
- United News of India
Uday Ruddarraju set to join OpenAI
New Delhi, July 14 (UNI) Uday Ruddarraju, who has resigned from Elon Musk's startup xAI, is set to join OpenAI. Indian-origin Ruddarraju resigned as head of infrastructure engineering yesterday from Tesla Chief's company startup xAI. His resignation comes two days after X CEO Linda Yaccarino announced her resignation just months after the social media platform was acquired by the billionaire's AI startup, xAI. Ruddarraju was instrumental in leading the training of the AI model Grok 3. It is a reasoning-based model that surpassed its previous competitors. Ruddarraju has completed his Master's in Computer Science from the University of Minnesota. He previously worked in engineering roles at eBay and 2024, Uday joined as the head of Infrastructure Engineering of xAI. In a post on X, Ruddarraju praised Elon Musk and his team for their determination to achieve targets. He also pointed to his small efforts at xAI in building the future of AI computers. After resigning from his post, Uday confirmed that he is heading to OpenAI. His departure from OpenAI is a big jolt to xAI central teams, which are working in departments of research and computing. Uday is also credited with the creation of 'Colossus' in his tenure at the company. Colossus is the name given to the massive AI supercomputer developed by xAI. It's currently the world's largest AI supercomputer, located in Memphis, Tennessee. UNI SAS AAB PRS
Indian Express
10-07-2025
- Automotive
- Indian Express
OpenAI recruits Tesla VP, xAI engineers as AI talent war heats up: Report
In the latest AI talent raid, OpenAI has reportedly hired four experienced software engineers, including a senior executive from Elon Musk-owned Tesla. David Lau, the former vice president of software engineering at Tesla, is all set to join OpenAI's scaling team led by OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman, according to a report by Wired. Uday Ruddarraju and Mike Dalton, who used to work in the infrastructure engineering team at xAI, have also reportedly been hired by OpenAI along with ex-Meta AI researcher Angela Fan. Ruddarraju and Dalton were reportedly involved in building xAI's massive supercomputer 'Colossus' comprising clusters of over 2,00,000 Graphics Processing Unit (GPUs). They also previously worked together at online trading platform Robinhood. The four recent hires will be part of OpenAI's scaling team, which is reportedly responsible for managing the backend AI infrastructure such as data centres that have been commissioned under the Stargate Project, a joint venture that was announced by US President Donald Trump at the start of the year. OpenAI's move to scoop up these high-profile engineers comes amid a rapidly intensifying war for talent within the tech industry. While AI researchers and engineers have been in high demand since the launch of ChatGPT in 2022, the race to acquire top talent has intensified in recent months as companies accelerate their push toward achieving artificial general intelligence or AGI. 'We're excited to welcome these new members to our scaling team. Our approach is to continue building and bringing together world-class infrastructure, research, and product teams to accelerate our mission and deliver the benefits of AI to hundreds of millions of people,' an OpenAI spokesperson was quoted as saying by Wired. 'Infrastructure is where research meets reality, and OpenAI has already demonstrated this successfully. Stargate, in particular, is an infrastructure moonshot that perfectly matches the ambitious, systems-level challenges I love taking on,' Ruddarraju reportedly told the tech news outlet. 'It has become incredibly clear to me that accelerating progress towards safe, well-aligned artificial general intelligence is the most rewarding mission I could imagine for the next chapter of my career,' Lau was quoted as saying. Meta has been on an aggressive poaching spree over the past few weeks. It has successfully hired away at least seven AI researchers from rival OpenAI, luring them with purportedly high compensation packages to join its newly formed Meta Superintelligence Labs (MSL) led by Scale AI's Alexandr Wang and former Github CEO Nat Friedman. The Mark Zuckerberg-led company recently hired Ruoming Pang to join MSL. Pang was said to be one of Apple's top executives working on AI. His exit from Apple might have a considerable impact on the iPhone-maker's AI ambitions, especially since its flagship Apple Intelligence offerings have already been delayed. Meta offered Pang a pay package of over $200 million to join MSL, according to a report by Bloomberg.
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First Post
20-05-2025
- Business
- First Post
Elon Musk faces strong pushback from Memphis residents over his 'digital delta' factory
People in Boxtown, which houses an economically disadvantaged community in south Memphis, have already been battling with poor air quality. With the establishment of Musk's facility, dubbed the 'Digital Delta', residents are up against the world's richest man as their health comes at stake read more Tesla CEO Elon Musk turned an abandoned factory in Memphis into an AI powerhouse last month, and just 30 days into its operations, residents have been complaining of air pollution. The factory, named 'Colossus' by Musk, is the 'most powerful AI training system in the world' and is being handled by his artificial intelligence company, xAI. 'This is just the beginning," the company said on its website as it already has plans to build a second facility in Memphis. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD AI demands vast amounts of energy, and Musk's company has set up numerous gas-powered turbines, which emit a mix of harmful pollutants. Despite this, the company is operating without air permits, seemingly exploiting a loophole meant for temporary turbine use. However, environmental organisations argue that this exemption is not applicable, and local residents have expressed strong opposition. Health of residents compromised People in Boxtown, which houses an economically disadvantaged community in south Memphis, have already been battling with poor air quality. With the establishment of Musk's facility, dubbed the 'Digital Delta', residents are up against the world's richest man as their health comes at stake. 'Our health was never considered, the safety of our communities was never, ever considered,' said Sarah Gladney, a resident of the town who suffers from a lung condition, told CNN. Memphis natives do not have the support of their mayor, who views the facility as an economic opportunity for the city. Mayor Paul Young said, 'What we are looking at is an opportunity to completely transform our economy.' How is the facility polluting the air? Gas-powered turbines emit various pollutants, including nitrogen oxides, a major contributor to ozone pollution, commonly known as smog. Exposure to this type of pollution can trigger asthma attacks and chest discomfort, and over time, it has been associated with reduced lung function and an increased risk of premature death. This is a major concern for an area already burdened by severe air pollution. A ProPublica analysis found that the cancer risk from industrial emissions in southwest Memphis is 4.1 times greater than what the EPA considers acceptable. Additionally, Shelby County has received an 'F' grade for ozone pollution from the American Lung Association and reports the highest rate of childhood asthma hospitalisations in Tennessee.
Yahoo
10-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Elon Musk's xAI powering its facility in Memphis with ‘illegal' generators
KeShaun Pearson took a seat in front of the Shelby county board of commissioners in Memphis, Tennessee, on Wednesday morning. In the gallery behind him, a small group of people held up signs that said 'Our air = our lives' and 'Our water, Our future.' With a manner-of-fact demeanor, Pearson addressed the commissioners. 'I'm here because today we've learned that xAI is using 35 methane gas burning turbines,' said Pearson, who is the director of the advocacy group Memphis Community Against Pollution. 'They have submitted a permit to our Shelby county health department for 15, yet they are using double that amount with no permit.' It's been known that xAI, Elon Musk's artificial intelligence company, has been using around 15 portable generators to help power its massive supercomputer in Memphis without yet securing permits. But new aerial images obtained by the Southern Environmental Law Center show that number is now far higher. The group says these gas turbines combined can generate around 420MW of electricity, enough to power an entire city. 'xAI has essentially built a power plant in South Memphis with no oversight, no permitting, and no regard for families living in nearby communities,' Amanda Garcia, senior attorney for the Southern Environmental Law Center, said in a statement. 'These dozens of gas turbines are doing significant harm to the air Memphians breathe every day.' Related: US senator introduces conflict of interest bill aimed at Elon Musk The 35 generators xAI is using are 'illegal' and a 'major source of air pollution', the law center wrote in a letter to the Shelby county health department on Wednesday. It says these high emission rates violate the Clean Air Act, including specified limits on toxic and carcinogenic pollution. Musk fired up his xAI facility in Memphis last summer. He calls the supercomputer 'Colossus' and it's tasked with providing compute power for xAI's chatbot Grok. The building that houses Colossus is the size of 13 football fields and Musk has said he plans to double that. Artificial intelligence requires an immense amount of energy to carry out computations and provide quick responses to user queries. For example, a query with ChatGPT needs nearly 10 times as much electricity as a typical Google search query, according to a report by Goldman Sachs. In the US, the majority of that electricity comes from burning fossil fuels like coal and gas, which are primary drivers of climate change. xAI already has contracts to draw 150MW of electricity from Memphis' local utility, which is enough to power 100,000 homes a year. But Musk has said he needs even more energy to deal with power fluctuation issues at the plant. When the first few methane gas generators appeared outside the xAI facility last summer, it caused a stir because the Shelby county health department and the Environmental Protection Agency said xAI wasn't using permits to run those generators. It appears the company found a loophole in the system that allows it to use the gas generators as long as they're not in the same location for more than 364 days. In January, xAI applied for a permit for 15 generators, but there was no mention of the additional 20 units in the application. The Shelby county health separtment, Environmental Protection Agency and xAI did not immediately return requests for comment. The Southern Environmental Law Center says these generators are running 24/7 and pump harmful nitrogen oxides into the air. Within one to two miles of xAI are several residential neighborhoods, where the people who live there have long dealt with industrial pollution. This area is historically Black and has higher rates of cancer and asthma and a lower life expectancy than other parts of the city. In its letter to the health department, the Southern Environmental Law Center says an emergency order should be issued that requires xAI to cease or suspend the use of the 35 generators. If xAI doesn't comply, the group says, it should be penalized $25,000 each day it violates the Clean Air Act. A representative from xAI, Brent Mayo, was on the agenda to speak with the Shelby county board of commissioners on Wednesday. But he didn't show up. The commission chair said she sent three emails to Mayo notifying him of the meeting and that 'we did not hear back from him'. A representative for the Chamber of Commerce, which has worked with xAI to set up its facility in Memphis, told the commissioners that xAI didn't get the emails. Members of the community, like Pearson, did speak to the commissioners on Wednesday. They all had concerns with xAI's pollution and the multiplying of its gas generators. Pearson is from one of the neighborhoods near xAI and said both of his grandmothers died of cancer in their 60s. He believes their deaths were caused by living so close to Memphis' industrial zone. 'Nobody else should be burying their families because these rogue, rich, white, racist people continue to build projects that are suffocating us,' Pearson said. 'This is all preventable.'
