Elon Musk Is Living in an Airstream Trailer While Overseeing xAI Expansion

The initial Colossus build was reportedly completed in just 122 days, highlighting the unusually rapid pace of xAI’s infrastructure rollout.
Musk’s practice of living at work has a long history: during the construction of Zip2, he and his brother Kimbal reportedly slept in a small Palo Alto office for six months and showered at the YMCA; Musk also slept at Twitter’s headquarters after acquiring the company.
The Airstream’s compact design can include a bed, kitchen and bathroom in roughly 16 feet, giving more detail on the makeshift residence Musk called his “palace.”
One report says the expanded campus had reached roughly 1 gigawatt of AI-computing capacity by mid-2026 and included Colossus 1, Colossus 2—also called Macrohard—and Minihard.
The reported customer arrangements include an Anthropic agreement valued at up to $1.25 billion per month and a Google deal for about 110,000 GPUs at approximately $920 million per month, beginning in October 2026.
Elon Musk is living in an Airstream trailer in Memphis while overseeing xAI's expansion of the Colossus supercomputing complex, calling the camper his "palace." RV Business reports that Musk, the world's richest person with a net worth around $925 billion, has chosen the compact camper to stay close to the company's most ambitious project yet.
The arrangement reflects Musk's long history of living at work sites during major construction projects. Entrepreneur notes that SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell confirmed this pattern, saying Musk even slept at Twitter headquarters after acquiring the company and spent six months in a small Palo Alto office during Zip2's early days.
Colossus launched in 2024 to power xAI's Grok AI model and was built in just 122 days. AutoEvolution reports that xAI has since expanded the Memphis campus dramatically. By mid-2026, the expanded site reached roughly 1 gigawatt of computing capacity, including Colossus 1, Colossus 2 (also called Macrohard), and the planned Minihard data center.
xAI is leasing excess computing capacity to major tech firms. UNILAD Tech reveals that xAI negotiated a deal with Anthropic valued at up to $1.25 billion per month. Google secured approximately 110,000 GPUs at roughly $920 million per month, beginning in October 2026.
Sleeping at the office is nothing new for Musk. During Zip2's construction, he and his brother Kimbal reportedly slept in a tiny Palo Alto office for six months and showered at the YMCA. After buying Twitter, he spent nights at company headquarters. Analytics Insight notes that the Airstream trailer, roughly 16 feet long, fits a bed, kitchen, and bathroom—basic necessities for Musk's hands-on approach to major projects.
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