Colossus 2 · South Memphis, TN
Last change recorded 2026-10-04 · Last checked 2026-10-04
Latest: Temporary turbine permit expires · Permits in hand · 2027-12-31 (plan) · recorded 2026-10-04
Operational since late 2025 (Epoch: first power October 2025; press: January 2026). Power from Solaris Energy Infrastructure gas turbines (about 400 MW serving xAI of a 1.1 GW+ programme by Q2 2027) plus two MLGW substations on the campus. MDEQ approved an air permit on 2026-03-10 for 41 permanent turbines (about 1.2 GW) in Southaven; earlier operation of unpermitted turbines is the subject of an NAACP/SELC action, and the temporary turbine permit expires in 2027. · source ◐ secondary, confidence medium
Recorded readiness — 2 of 6 applicable milestones have a dated public record
Gate to first power — target 2025-10-19 (estimate) · path: Hybrid: on-site bridge, then grid · each step must finish its lead time before the target
2 of 2 required steps have a public date. Red = recorded date past the rule-based deadline · grey "no public date" = required step without a record · green = on record in time · context steps never colour.
| Step | Must finish by | Others did it | Known date | Status | Basis | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Site secured (context) | 2024-07-19 (15 mo before) | 13 mo before (n=26) | 2025-02-28 | context | Land clearing begins · ◐ | |
| Permits in hand | 2025-10-19 (0 mo before) | 4 mo after (n=8) | 2026-03-10 | on record in time | MDEQ air permit for 41 permanent turbines · ◐ | |
| New generation online | 2025-09-19 (1 mo before) | 12 mo after (n=1) | 2027-06-30 plan | plan 21 mo past the deadline | Turbine programme reaches 1.1 GW+ (Solaris, planned) · ◐ |
This site is energized; lights only show how its recorded steps compared with the lead times.
Lead-time assumptions
- Site secured 15 months before first power — Land under control and campus announced. Rarely binding; shown for context.
- Permits in hand 0 months before first power — Final air and siting permits. Operators often energize on standard or temporary authorisations and receive the major permit later; flagged only when the permit lands more than 6 months after first power or is missing for an on-site plant.
- Grid supply agreed 9 months before first power — Interconnection or large-load agreement approved. Observed median 7 months before first power; the physical works (substation, lines) run in parallel with construction.
- Substation and lines energized 2 months before first power — Utility delivery point live; final tests before the load is taken.
- New generation online 1 months before first power — Utility plant or on-site plant generating; needed just before energization when the grid cannot carry the load alone.
- Major equipment on site 6 months before first power — Turbines, transformers, switchgear delivered; installation and commissioning take the remaining months.
- Construction started 24 months before first power — Groundbreaking of the building that gives first power. Observed 4-26 months for recent AI campuses; Meta's redesigned campuses took 35-58.
- Building ready for IT 0 months before first power — First building ready for IT. 'Complete' or 'opened' is usually reported after first power; flagged only beyond 3 months.
- Full build-out complete -12 months before first power — All announced buildings operational. Comes after first power by design; context only.
- Water supply secured 12 months before first power — Water rights, municipal agreement or desalination contract in hand. Context only; one of the feasibility items.
- Financing closed 12 months before first power — Project financing, anchor lease or committed capital announced. Context only; not applicable when the owner is a hyperscaler building on its balance sheet.
Dated steps (from the sources; later dates are plans)
Power equipment (from permits, filings and reporting; blank cells were not disclosed)
| Category | Make / model | Units | MW | Status | Date | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| gas turbine | — | 69 | 495 MW | operating (temporary) | 2026-07-15 | Southaven plant: MDEQ counted 46 temporary turbines in May, 60 in June and 69 in July 2026 (xAI had acknowledged 27); NAACP/SELC Clean Air Act suit filed 2026-04-14; 495 MW reported earlier · ◐ |
| gas turbine | — | 41 | 1.2 GW | permitted | 2026-03-10 | Permanent fleet approved by MDEQ (appealed by SELC/NAACP); Solaris JV targets 1.1 GW+ by Q2 2027 · ◐ |
Build-out timeline (Epoch AI; dated status notes with IT power; rows after today are estimates)
Recorded fact new generation online has a recorded date later than the rule-based deadline for a 2025-10-19 first power.
Calculated requirement Energized; watch the build-out timeline for the next buildings.
Sources (Epoch AI selection): WSJ profile of the Colossus data centers · Final GPU count reported by Elon Musk · MLGW update mentioning power requests for Colossus 2 · SpaceX-Cursor partnership to use Colossus · Anthropic to use Colossus 2 from June 2026 · SpaceX S-1 filing, mentioning exact compute and power for Colossus 2
Epoch AI, 'AI data centers', epoch.ai/data/ai-data-centers (CC BY 4.0); coordinates from GeoNames cities500 (CC BY 4.0) and hand-entered places; overrides in tools/project_overrides.csv with their own sources. Campuses outside the Epoch dataset come from tools/campuses.csv (public reporting, source per row). Data retrieved 2026-10-05. Report a correction to contact@ailoadmap.com (campus id colossus-2; include the row and a source link).