xAI turns retired 747 jet engines into power plants for its Memphis AI complex

Eight converted GE engines now feed Colossus 2 as grid delays push AI companies to build their own electricity supply

Tue 3 Nov 2026 · 17:23 EST · 2 min read

In AI

Elon Musk’s xAI has found a new use for old Boeing 747 parts: keeping its artificial intelligence supercomputers running. The company has installed eight converted jet-engine power units at its plant in Southaven, Mississippi, to supply the Colossus 2 data center complex near Memphis, Tennessee.

The New York Times reported the deployment on Tuesday, November 3, 2026, after an investigation that drew on satellite imagery.

From the runway to the server farm

The units started life as General Electric CF6-80C2 engines, the workhorses that powered Boeing 747s. ProEnergy, a company that repurposes aircraft turbines, rebuilt them to run on natural gas rather than jet fuel.

Each unit produces approximately 50 megawatts. On paper, eight of them at that rating add up to roughly 400 megawatts of generating capacity.

The deep research behind the reporting identifies xAI as operating under the name SpaceXAI in connection with the site. Mississippi regulators issued the permits covering the jet-engine units on March 11, 2026.

The emissions fine print

Those permits come with a notable allowance. The converted engines may emit double the carbon monoxide permitted for the other turbines at the site, along with 25% more volatile organic compounds.

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That has not gone unnoticed. The NAACP and the Southern Environmental Law Center have filed appeals challenging the permits.

The legal fight is not new for xAI in this area. The NAACP already has a Clean Air Act lawsuit pending over the temporary turbines the company previously ran at the same location. On October 30, 2026, a federal judge rejected xAI’s motion to dismiss that case, allowing it to move forward.

A temporary fix on the way to something bigger

The jet-engine units are part of a broader shift in how xAI powers its Memphis operations. The company has relied on dozens of temporary mobile turbines and plans to phase them out.

In their place, xAI is preparing to build a permanent natural gas plant with a capacity of 1.2 gigawatts, running on 41 turbines. If the eight converted engines deliver close to their rated output, they would represent about a third of that planned permanent capacity.

Colossus 2 sits at the center of xAI’s push to scale its AI infrastructure in Memphis as quickly as possible.

Disclosure: This article was edited by Diego Almada Lopez. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.