{"slug": "spacex-s-ai-boom-comes-with-a-perk-for-memphis-residents-half-price-for-starlink", "title": "SpaceX's AI boom comes with a perk for Memphis residents: half-price for Starlink", "summary": "SpaceX is offering Memphis-area residents half-price Starlink internet, waiving hardware costs, as xAI expands its Colossus AI data center in the region. The promotion aims to thank the local community for supporting the facility, which has faced criticism over energy use and emissions.", "body_md": "SpaceX is offering Memphis-area residents a steep discount on Starlink internet as its AI ambitions continue to expand in the region.\n\nCustomers with eligible addresses in the Memphis area can sign up for Starlink at half the standard monthly price, and both new and existing subscribers won't have to pay upfront for hardware, xAI Memphis said on X.\n\nThe company linked the promotion to its growing [AI infrastructure](https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-xai-compute-cursor-ai-model-training-2026-4) in the city, home to xAI's Colossus data center.\n\n\"The unique capabilities of the Colossus datacenters could not be accomplished without the partnership and support from the local Memphis community.\" SpaceX's vice president of Starlink engineering, Michael Nicolls, wrote on X on Tuesday.\n\n\"Happy to bring affordable and great @SpaceX @Starlink connectivity to our neighbors,\" Nicolls added.\n\nElon Musk also promoted the offer on X, posting simply that Starlink would be available at \"half price\" for residents in the Memphis region.\n\nThe promotion comes as xAI rapidly expands its presence in the area. Colossus, launched in 2024, has become one of the world's largest AI computing clusters, powering Grok training and supporting compute needs across Musk's companies. The campus has continued to grow, including an expansion into nearby Southaven, Mississippi.\n\nMeanwhile, the facility has also drawn scrutiny from local residents and environmental advocates. Community groups, including Memphis Community Against Pollution, have criticized the project's [energy use and emissions](https://www.businessinsider.com/us-ai-data-center-power-electricity-use-consumption-2026-6). Business Insider previously reported that the data center relies on enough [methane gas generation](https://www.businessinsider.com/the-data-center-boom-is-colliding-with-the-midterms-2026-6) to power roughly 280,000 homes, and that local organizations have launched efforts to monitor air pollution and urge elected officials to take action.\n\nThe Starlink offer automatically applies to eligible addresses, reducing the monthly subscription price by 50% while waiving hardware costs. SpaceX has not announced when the promotion will end and has not responded to a request for comment.", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/spacex-s-ai-boom-comes-with-a-perk-for-memphis-residents-half-price-for-starlink", "canonical_source": "https://www.businessinsider.com/spacex-half-price-starlink-memphis-residents-2026-6", "published_at": "2026-06-30 20:14:33+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-06-30 20:30:05.288086+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["artificial-intelligence", "ai-infrastructure", "ai-ethics"], "entities": ["SpaceX", "Starlink", "xAI", "Memphis", "Colossus", "Elon Musk", "Michael Nicolls", "Memphis Community Against Pollution"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/spacex-s-ai-boom-comes-with-a-perk-for-memphis-residents-half-price-for-starlink", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/spacex-s-ai-boom-comes-with-a-perk-for-memphis-residents-half-price-for-starlink.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/spacex-s-ai-boom-comes-with-a-perk-for-memphis-residents-half-price-for-starlink.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/spacex-s-ai-boom-comes-with-a-perk-for-memphis-residents-half-price-for-starlink.jsonld"}}