How Elon Musk Stopped Government Officials from Talking About xAI’s New Supercomputer

The world’s richest man has swiftly set up a massive data center for his AI company in Memphis, taking extensive steps to keep the project details under wraps. Nearly six months ago in Memphis, before residents or even city council members knew that Elon Musk was building “the world’s largest supercomputer” in their backyard, Musk’s team held secret meetings with various local and national law enforcement agencies, including the sheriff’s office, Memphis Police Department, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and the FBI.

The covert meeting, previously unreported, concerned Musk’s burgeoning AI startup, xAI, according to the Greater Memphis Chamber, an economic development group that had been managing the deal behind closed doors since March.

“I sincerely appreciate everyone’s time and commitment to this project. We are on the cusp of an incredible moment in Memphis history,” wrote Gwyn Fisher, the Chamber’s economic development director, in an email to the group. She offered a tour of Musk’s new facility, on one condition: that they sign non-disclosure agreements with an entity called CTC Property, a mysterious shell company controlled by Musk’s personal banker, Jared Birchall.

A former financial analyst, Birchall has been Musk’s right-hand man for nearly a decade, serving as his wealth advisor following his departure from Merrill Lynch over inappropriate client correspondence, Reuters reported. Since then, he has been named an executive of SpaceX, Neuralink, The Boring Company, and xAI, managing Musk’s family office and foundation, overseeing Musk’s acquisition of Twitter, and handling the billionaire’s extensive personal security apparatus.

Forbes was the first to report that Memphis government officials had signed non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) with xAI and subsequently obtained the agreement and other internal documents through public records requests. Scott Banbury, Tennessee Sierra Club’s conservation director, argues that government agencies accepting xAI’s NDA terms is “unethical” and believes their primary duty should be to the citizens of Memphis.

The FBI and Shelby County Sheriff’s office declined to comment on the xAI meeting, while other law enforcement agencies…