Elon Musk said this week that xAI’s Colossus 2 data center has reached a one gigawatt scale. Satellite imagery suggests that is not the case yet.
Researchers at Epoch AI reviewed recent images of the site and say the system is still far from operating at that level.
Cooling Capacity Tells a Different Story
Colossus 2 is supposed to be built around roughly 550,000 Nvidia Blackwell AI accelerators. At full power, that setup would require massive cooling.
According to Epoch AI, the facility currently has about 350 megawatts of cooling capacity. That is nowhere near enough to support the full GPU count at peak load, even during colder months. Based on this, researchers believe Musk’s January 19 statement was premature.
One Gigawatt Likely Later This Spring
Epoch AI estimates that Colossus 2 could reach the one gigawatt mark around May if current construction continues. The ramp appears to be phased rather than immediate.
Interestingly, when xAI’s own chatbot Grok was asked about the system, it suggested a staggered rollout. It also referenced media reports claiming xAI may be using unpermitted gas turbines to supplement power.
Bigger Plans Still on the Table
Colossus 2 was previously described as a system that could eventually scale to one million GPUs. Musk has since said the site could grow to 1.5 gigawatts or even two gigawatts.
When that happens remains unclear. xAI would still need to secure enough AI servers, reliable power sources, and significantly more cooling infrastructure.
Competitive Position
Even with delays, Colossus 2 is still expected to stay ahead of rival projects from Amazon and OpenAI in terms of raw compute capacity, at least for now. Epoch AI data suggests xAI will have more power available for training, inference, and agent-based AI workloads over the near term.
Power Use Compared to Cities
To put the scale in perspective, Epoch AI notes that San Diego averages about 800 megawatts of power use. Amsterdam consumes around 1.6 gigawatts. Los Angeles is closer to 2.4 gigawatts.
Once fully built out, Colossus 2 is expected to draw roughly 1.3 to 1.4 gigawatts. That would be more than San Diego, slightly below Amsterdam, and about 60 percent of Los Angeles.
