The Memphis City Council will consider a temporary moratorium on the development of any new data centers here in its meeting Tuesday.
Few details about the proposal were available as of press time Monday. It was not known how the law would define a data center, the length of the moratorium, or how it would affect expansion of SpaceXAI operations in Memphis. The legislation is sponsored by council chair Jana Swearengen-Washington, Yolanda Cooper-Sutton, and former council chair J.B. Smiley.
Cooper-Sutton has been a vocal opponent of SpaceXAI since news of the company’s arrival here in 2024.
“We want to do good business with people,” she told Brent Mayo, a SpaceXAI representative, in a council committee meeting in 2025. “Your boss [Elon Musk] does not do good business.”
Cooper-Sutton’s mic was cut by Smiley for getting personal. She cast the sole vote that day against the plan to sell land to the company for a wastewater treatment facility.
However, none of the moratorium’s sponsors had made a public statement about the idea as of Monday morning.
State Rep. Justin Pearson (D-Memphis), a congressional candidate, said in a statement that the legislation from the council is “welcome news and an important step in the right direction” and that “Memphis needs a moratorium now.”
“SpaceXAI built a fourth data center right under our noses, without the knowledge or input of the communities that will bear the consequences,” Pearson said. “That is not how responsible development should happen. Innovation that requires somebody else’s sacrifice is not progress. Technology should serve people. People should never be sacrificed to serve technology.”
Cities and counties across Tennessee are passing moratoria on data center construction. Warren County, Knox County, Coffee County, and Metro Nashville/Davidson County have all temporarily paused permissions for data centers.
A plan to put a data center near Nashville Zoo and Fisk University was rejected by the Metro Council. That body enacted new laws against data centers near sensitive locations like zoos. The council also used an eminent domain move for the option to acquire the land.
“The city of Nashville now has every tool available to stop the data center from being built beside the zoo,” the Nashville Zoo said in a blog post earlier this month. “This is a huge win and a testament to the vigilance and support we have received from this community.”
The company behind the proposal, DC Blox, sued the city in federal court, claiming the moratorium and actions unlawfully targeted the company.
State Sen. Heidi Campbell, D-Nashville, announced last week that she plans to introduce legislation guaranteeing local governments the authority to approve or reject data-center developments, amid concerns that the Tennessee General Assembly could instead move to restrict local regulation.
Even as Memphis council members considered putting the brakes on future data center development, they were also expected to vote Tuesday on how to spend nearly $3.3 million generated by SpaceXAI property on Paul R. Lowery Road.
The money would be invested within five miles of the property, including $1.4 million for home repairs, $500,000 for neighborhood cleanup work, $300,000 for blight remediation, and $100,000 for environmental monitoring, including air quality. Another $20,000 would provide nearby residents with window air conditioners, box fans, HVAC filters, and air purifiers.
