The City of Memphis has released initial air quality test results from three sites across the city, including one near Elon Musk’s xAI data center in South Memphis. 

According to city officials, the results showed no dangerous levels of pollutants. “At every site and for every pollutant tested, levels were either too low to detect or well below established safety thresholds,” the city’s report read.

xAI Welcomes Air Quality Test Results

Tests were conducted at Macedonia Church in Boxtown, The Links at Whitehaven, and City Hall Downtown. Memphis Mayor Paul Young stated that the data only represents a “snapshot in time” and that continued monitoring will take place.

“The City doesn’t control air quality regulations, but we stepped up to find answers. The initial results showed no dangerous levels of air pollutants at any of the tested sites. We are committed to ongoing testing to continue to inform and protect our community,” Mayor Young stated.

xAI, which opened a facility in Boxtown to house its Colossus supercomputer, welcomed the city’s initial findings. The artificial intelligence startup shared its comments in a post on social media platform X.

“xAI welcomes the independent third-party data showing no dangerous pollutant levels at test sites near our Memphis data center. We have built a world-class data center in Memphis and we couldn’t have done it without the support of the local community and its leaders,” the company stated.

Critics Are Not Satisfied

Environmental advocates and local leaders, however, were not satisfied with the city’s initial tests. The Southern Environmental Law Center criticized the city’s approach, arguing that smog-forming emissions, including nitrogen oxides from xAI’s turbines, pose health risks that the city’s testing did not account for, as noted in a FOX 13 Memphis report.

“The city failed to measure ozone pollution–better known as smog–which we already know is a major problem in the Memphis area… As community members have warned for the last year, smog-forming pollution is a major concern with the unpermitted turbines being run at xAI’s South Memphis data center,” the group noted.

State Representative Justin J. Pearson (D-Memphis) echoed the group’s criticism.

“We do not need any more misleading reports that are more concerned with finding a conclusion conducive to Mayor Young’s unwavering support of xAI, rather than discovering the truth. Our review of the information released by the City of Memphis earlier this evening revealed a glaring and critical omission in their pollution testing and results: the monitoring of ozone which is a considerable factor in air pollution problems in Memphis,” he noted.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has teased new progress on the company’s humanoid robot, Optimus. In a brief post on X, Musk shared that he had an “excellent review” with the Tesla Optimus team. He also confirmed that Optimus V3 is already using Grok voice assistant in a later reply. 

Musk’s recent posts suggest that the development of Tesla’s humanoid robot is advancing steadily behind the scenes.

Grok Already Integrated

Musk’s recent comments about Optimus were shared on social media platform X. Initially, Musk posted that Optimus V3 would be (chef’s kiss), and that he just had an excellent review with the humanoid robot’s team. Considering Musk’s post, it was no surprise that some Tesla fans asked if Optimus would be able to talk using Grok, xAI’s large language model. Musk confirmed that Optimus “already does.” 

Grok’s integration with Optimus may allow the robot to interact more naturally with its environment and users. Tesla previously noted that Optimus will rely on the same neural networks powering its Autopilot and FSD systems. The addition of Grok could then make Optimus even more user-friendly for regular consumers.

Closer to Production

The current iteration of Optimus features Tesla-designed actuators, improved limb control, and more human-like proportions. Recent demo videos released by the company showed Optimus units walking unassisted, balancing in place, and working in Tesla factories, among other tasks. Musk has also highlighted that Optimus would have upgraded hands with 22 degrees of freedom, close to a human hand.

Musk noted during the company’s Q1 2025 All Hands meeting that Tesla may be able to produce around 5,000 units this year. “This year, we hopefully will be able to make about 5,000 Optimus robots. We’re technically aiming for enough parts to make 10,000, maybe 12,000, but since it’s a totally new product with a totally new, like everything is totally new, I’ll say we’re succeeding if we get to half go the 10,000. But even 5,000 robots, that’s the size of a Roman legion, FYI,” Musk said during the meeting.

SpaceX launched the Falcon 9 rocket kickstarting Axiom Space’s Ax-4 mission to the International Space Station (ISS). Axiom’s Ax-4 mission is led by a historic international crew and lifted off from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39A at 2:31 a.m. ET on June 25, 2025.

The Ax-4 crew is set to dock with the ISS around 7 a.m. ET on Thursday, June 26, 2025. Axiom Space, a Houston-based commercial space company, coordinated the mission with SpaceX for transportation and NASA for ISS access, with support from the European Space Agency and the astronauts’ governments.

The Ax-4 mission marks a milestone in global space collaboration. The Ax-4 crew, commanded by U.S. astronaut Peggy Whitson, includes Shubhanshu Shukla from India as the pilot, alongside mission specialists Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski from Poland and Tibor Kapu from Hungary.

“The trip marks the return to human spaceflight for those countries — their first government-sponsored flights in more than 40 years,” Axiom noted.

Shukla’s participation aligns with India’s Gaganyaan program planned for 2027. He is the first Indian astronaut to visit the ISS since Rakesh Sharma in 1984.

Axiom’s Ax-4 mission marks SpaceX’s 18th human spaceflight. The mission employs a Crew Dragon capsule atop a Falcon 9 rocket, designed with a launch escape system and “two-fault tolerant” for enhanced safety. The Axiom mission faced a few delays due to weather, a Falcon 9 leak, and an ISS Zvezda module leak investigation by NASA and Roscosmos before the recent successful launch.

As the crew prepares to execute its scientific objectives, SpaceX’s Ax-4 mission paves the way for a new era of inclusive space research, inspiring future generations and solidifying collaborative ties in the cosmos. During the Ax-4 crew’s 14-day stay in the ISS, the astronauts will conduct nearly 60 experiments.

“We’ll be conducting research that spans biology, material, and physical sciences as well as technology demonstrations,” said Whitson. “We’ll also be engaging with students around the world, sharing our experience and inspiring the next generation of explorers.”

SpaceX’s Ax-4 mission highlights Axiom’s role in advancing commercial spaceflight and fostering international partnerships. The mission strengthens global space exploration efforts by enabling historic spaceflight returns for India, Poland, and Hungary.