- SpaceX offers Starlink at half price for some users in Memphis
- Residents near an xAI data center are eligible for the offer
- The company is sued for the pollution caused by its infrastructure
Here’s one way to try to overcome local opposition to your energy-hungry, water-guzzling, AI-powered data centers: offer residents some sweeteners in exchange for building the infrastructure in their backyard.
As Bloomberg reports, SpaceX is now offering half-price Starlink subscriptions to those in the Memphis, Tennessee, area, where the company operates existing Colossus data centers and “continues to invest in the Memphis area.”
There will be no upfront hardware costs for new customers and discounts can be shared with “close” friends and family via referral. However, if you change your address and move out of the area, you will lose your discount.
While “appeasing local residents” is not explicitly mentioned in SpaceX’s statement, it doesn’t require much reading between the lines. If you live in Memphis or neighboring Southaven, you can see if your address is in an eligible part of the area by searching for the location online.
Pollution problems
You’re trying to curry favor, but I doubt there are enough users here for this to work. from r/Starlink
The data centers in this region are primarily for SpaceX subsidiary xAI, and the company is currently being sued for violating the Clean Air Act: the methane gas turbines that power the Colossus data centers are alleged to not have the necessary permits.
“As we have shared since xAI began operating in Memphis, our homes, churches, and playgrounds will not be sacrifice zones for the convenience of Big Tech,” says Abre’ Conner, director of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).
It remains to be seen if half-price Internet changes the mood of those affected: the discount could also be called “like the discount please don’t stop us from using illegal natural gas turbines,” jokes one user on Reddit.
However, discounted Starlink packages are not the only commitment xAI is making. The company has also said it will resume work on a wastewater recycling plant starting next year, which will provide clean water for data centers and local authorities, although it is unclear why work was stopped to begin with.
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