00:02Loretta Thornton was living the quiet life in Memphis, Tennessee until a new neighbour moved in.
00:09Colossus 2, developed by Elon Musk's Space XAI.
00:13So me and Elon are just neighbours.
00:16He's noisy and I'm looking at him and wondering why did you build that here?
00:22Why would you take peace away?
00:24It's the largest data centre in America,
00:27housing all the computer infrastructure needed to keep digital services running.
00:32It was built without any public consultation.
00:35How does that make you feel?
00:36Stomach, fold up, sucker punch.
00:39The 66-year-old army veteran says it's not just the noise,
00:43but the dust and fumes whipped up from dozens of gas turbines needed to power the site.
00:48Oh my God, I have to go into the house because it started burning my eyes and my throat.
00:55The data centre boom is being powered by an AI arms race and it's become political poison ahead of the
01:02midterms.
01:03XAI and Elon Musk aren't the first perpetrators, they are the newest ones.
01:07And they are moving at a velocity we have never seen.
01:10Space XAI did not respond to ABC questions,
01:13but advocates say data centres provide millions of dollars in property taxes to cities like Memphis.
01:19Elon Musk plans to expand his data centre empire here in Memphis,
01:24where there is little to no regulation around building them.
01:27The announcement has infuriated residents and has even caught city council off guard.
01:33More than 200 American jurisdictions have already imposed temporary bans and residents hope Memphis is next.
01:40The city council is currently debating a 12-month moratorium on new facilities.
01:45We want to see real guardrails put in place for water impacts, for job creation, for pollution mitigation.
01:52A fight brewing with the richest man in the world.
01:56In the world.
01:58Name Ahiino
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