By

Lauren Fichten

Digital Reporter

Lauren Fichten is a journalist at CBS News covering artificial intelligence, digital safety and online extremism. She joined CBS News after graduating from UNC-Chapel Hill and was previously an associate producer at the CBS News National Desk.

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Updated on: October 22, 2026 / 11:38 AM EDT / CBS News

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In a heated city council meeting on Tuesday, leaders in Memphis, Tennessee, failed to pass a moratorium that would have paused data center development for a year in the city, which has become a hotspot for the facilities driven by Elon Musk's SpaceXAI .

Instead, city council members passed a substitute ordinance — which some said they received on short notice and did not have time to review — that would halt construction of data centers for 135 days.

Residents and activists have pushed back against data center development in the region for years, starting with the construction of SpaceXAI's Colossus 1 data center in 2024.…