MEMPHIS, Tenn. — When Elon Musk and company proposed plans to build onto an already existing construction plan to build an AI facility in the north west part of Atlanta in theory the idea was great but when they discovered that the 700-million dollar project would only retain 24 jobs at a cost of a 10-million dollar tax break over 10-years the tune quickly turned.
Atlanta city council member Matt Westmoreland says his warning to Memphis would be in the form of a question, is the project going to happen with or without an abatement?
"What you’re really doing when you abate taxes is you are increasing the burden on everyone else who pays taxes," Westmoreland said.
Westmoreland said tax abatement should be used as tools to help bring amenities to neighborhoods that don’t have them, to help create or retain jobs, and and right now none of those Memphis details are clear.
"What we had was a data center near a really heavily traveled transportation corridor, which was not providing a lot of people, and then a company that frankly did not need the abatement because the project was already underway," Westmoreland said.
As Shelby County agencies consider a tax incentive plan to finalize a super computer project to built by Elon Musk in Memphis, it's still unclear what kind of jobs or tax abatement proposals might be on the table for the new project.
The Greater Memphis Chamber announced Wednesday, June 5, 2024, that Musk is bringing the xAI ‘Gigafactory of Compute’ – what they said is the world’s largest supercomputer – to the city. The Chamber said it's "the city’s largest capital investment by a new-to-market company in Memphis history."
Though Greater Memphis Chamber President and CEO Ted Townsend would not confirm the location of the build, the Chamber did say it would be at a former manufacturing facility. They also said the investment would not be possible without the support of the building owners Phoenix Investors, which owns only a handful of properties in Memphis, including the former Electrolux site on Paul Lowry Rd. in southwest Memphis.
The Chamber said the project must still be approved by the Memphis Shelby County Economic Development Growth Engine (EDGE), Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), and governing authorities.
“In less than three weeks, the Chamber’s economic development team demonstrated remarkable coordination, swiftly providing solutions and rallying partners faster than any other community,” said Townsend. “From the initial three weeks until today, Memphis emerged as a global nexus where velocity meets potency, which are attractive attributes to the xAI team.”