Illegal Pollution from Data Center Power Plants Shouldn’t Harm Our Communities. We’re Suing xAI.

Elon Musk’s company, xAI, built an illegal power plant in Mississippi to power its AI data center — with no air permits, lax oversight, and little concern for families living nearby.

We sued.

Represented by Earthjustice and Southern Environmental Law Center, the NAACP and the Mississippi State Conference of the NAACP sued xAI and its subsidiary, MZX Tech, for the tech companies’ unlawful operation of 27 unpermitted methane gas turbines in Southaven, Mississippi, to power its Colossus 2 data center in South Memphis.

Thermal drone footage shows unpermitted turbines operating at xAI’s gas plant in Southaven, Miss., nearly two weeks after the EPA ruled such turbines require permits before they can run. (Evan Simon / Floodlight)

The lawsuit explains that xAI is illegally operating 27 gas turbines without an air permit in Southaven, Mississippi, effectively building a power plant for its Colossus 2 data center, which powers the company’s chatbot, Grok.

xAI’s failure to get a permit for its power plant — which is located near homes, schools, and churches — is a clear violation of the Clean Air Act, which requires major sources of pollution to obtain air permits before being constructed or operated.

xAI’s power plant in Southaven has the potential to emit more than 1,700 tons of nitrogen oxides (NO_x) each year. The illegal turbines also have the potential to release up to 180 tons of fine particulate matter, 500 tons of carbon monoxide, and 19 tons of formaldehyde — a toxic, cancer-causing chemical — each year.

xAI’s illegal power plant in Mississippi is located half a mile from homes and just a mile from an elementary school, causing serious concern for community health. Neighbors have expressed significant concerns about the unpermitted power plant’s impact on their air, their health, and their quality of life.

The lawsuit was filed in federal district court for the Northern District of Mississippi. Among other things, the NAACP is asking the court to:

• Declare that xAI has violated the Clean Air Act
• Force xAI to stop operating unpermitted turbines at its Southaven facility
• Order xAI to install the best available control technology on the power plant
• Assess financial penalties to xAI for every day it violated federal law