• Elon Musk's xAI plans to make a tenfold increase to the number of GPUs at its Memphis supercomputer.
• The expansion aims to help the startup compete with OpenAI and Google in the AI race.
• Nvidia, Dell, and Supermicro Computer also plan to establish operations in Memphis.

Elon Musk's xAI is ramping up its Memphis supercomputer to house at least 1 million graphic processing units, the Greater Memphis Chamber said on Wednesday.

The supercomputer, called Colossus, is already considered the largest of its kind in the world. The expansion would increase the number of its GPUs tenfold.

The move is part of xAI's effort to ramp up AI development and outpace rivals like OpenAI and Google. The GPUs are used to train and run xAI's AI-powered chatbot Grok, the company's answer to products like OpenAI's ChatGPT and Google's Gemini.

"In Memphis, we're pioneering development in the heartland of America," Brent Mayo, an xAI engineer, said in a statement. "We're not just leading from the front; we're accelerating progress at an unprecedented pace while ensuring the stability of the grid utilizing megapack technology."

The Greater Memphis Chamber said Nvidia — the leader in the GPU market and a supplier to Colossus — along with Dell and Supermicro Computer, also plan to establish operations in Memphis.

A 'superhuman' task

xAI built its supercomputer, Colossus, at a rapid pace. The supporting facility and supercomputer were built by xAI and Nvidia in just 122 days, according to a press release from Nvidia.

In an interview with Jordan Peterson on X in June, Musk said it took 19 days to get Colossus from hardware installation to beginning training, adding it was "the fastest by far anyone's been able to do that."

The speed of xAI's expansion won praise from Jensen Huang, the CEO of Nvidia, who described the effort as a "superhuman" task and hailed Musk's understanding of engineering.

Huang said a project like Colossus would normally take "three years to plan" and another year to get it up and running.

Musk's AI startup has also been on a fundraising streak. The Wall Street Journal reported that xAI is valued at $50 billion, doubling its valuation since the spring.

Investors in xAI's latest funding round reportedly include Sequoia Capital and Andreessen Horowitz. Earlier this year, xAI raised a $6 billion Series B from A16z and Sequoia Capital at a $24 billion post-money valuation. The new round means the AI company has raised a total of $11 billion this year.