Video taking off 108x its usual first day

Memphis resident says Musk's data center has disturbed her "Serenity"

The Root's interview clip centers on Loretta Thornton's determination to stay in the home she named for its quiet.

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The Root Story of November 11, 2026Trari Newsroom

Why this story? The video opened at a pace of 509,306 views a day, 108 times a normal first day on this channel (4,714).

Elon Musk's Data Center Is Making Life Miserable for this Memphis Mother | The Root

Loretta Thornton gave her house a name before the data center arrived next door. "I bought this house, named her Serenity, because it was just that quiet out here," she says.

Now, in a short interview posted by The Root, industrial cooling equipment fills the picture. Thornton says it runs around the clock. Her children want her to relocate, but she has no intention of surrendering her home.

Thornton lives in Memphis' Whitehaven neighborhood, beside the Colossus 2 AI data center belonging to Elon Musk's company, xAI. The clip carries a Tennessean credit and contrasts her account of trees and wildlife with the cooling units operating nearby. The Root identifies her as a retired Army veteran and Postal Service retiree.

Her account reached roughly half a million views in its first day, more than a hundred times the usual start for The Root's Shorts. The comments were similarly far busier than usual. Viewers call for the clip to be shown at local data-center meetings, discuss relocation costs and raise questions about where such facilities are built.

For Thornton, the issue is not an abstract argument about artificial intelligence. It is the sound outside the house she chose for its peace. She laughs during the interview and explains that getting angry will not help, but her position on leaving is firm: "You can't put me out. I'll stay here."

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