Christopher Mims hears "jets idling" outside Musk's Colossus 2 data center

The Wall Street Journal's technology columnist gets only as far as the fence in Southaven, Mississippi, where a local activist describes a noise that never stops.

Channel: The Wall Street Journal Story of October 26, 2026Trari Newsroom

Why this story? One of The Wall Street Journal's most watched videos since yesterday, with 31,049 views.

What I Saw Outside Elon Musk’s Massive Colossus 2 Data Center

"Believe it or not, this is where the AI is made," Christopher Mims says at the start of The Wall Street Journal's short report from Southaven, Mississippi, just across the state line from Memphis. Behind him is Colossus 2, the vast data center built by Elon Musk's company. It drew about 31,000 views since yesterday, more than any other new video on the Journal's channel.

According to the report, the complex supplies computing power for major AI models and rents server space to other tech firms. The narrator says to "think of SpaceX like a digital landlord for AI servers." Maps place it near Colossus 1, the Memphis facility that became the home of xAI's Grok models in 2024.

Mims does not get inside. Fencing and security keep him back, and he notes the restrictions on filming. "I can't get any closer to it than I currently am," he says. What reaches him is the sound. "It definitely sounds like there's an airport behind me with a bunch of jets idling."

Shannon Samsa, director of the Safe and Sound Coalition, says nearby residents live with that low-frequency hum around the clock. "If you had to hear something 24/7, it would drive you insane," she says. The report also describes the temporary natural gas turbines powering the site, the possibility of air pollution and pending community lawsuits, with court documents naming X.AI Corp. and MEX Tech LLC. It closes on the revenue these data centers bring to Musk's wider ventures.

The comments arrived about three times faster than is usual for the channel's short videos. Viewers argue about whether "low hum" is the right description, raise water and power use, and ask why data centers can't be built upward rather than spreading out.

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The numbers

The report was the most-watched new video on The Wall Street Journal's channel since yesterday. Its comment section filled unusually quickly for one of the channel's short videos.

subscribers

6,720,000

no significant change in the last 7 days

total views

2,659,053,285

views per day

2,403,981

typical day: 1,217,242

the video

views

55,358

likes

1,580

comments

80

days online

2

subscribers: this channel and similar channels

CBS News

7,110,000

60 Minutes Australia

6,750,000

The Wall Street Journal

6,720,000

The Sun

6,550,000

DW News

6,480,000

News24

6,270,000

As of October 26, 2026 · Data source: Trari Social News, Trari Traffic Trends and Ranking Platform, Google YouTube

Subscriber, view, like and comment counts are YouTube's. Rates, usual days, rankings, comparisons and categories are Trari's own calculations.