Elon Musk’s xAI faces second lawsuit over toxic pollutants from datacenter | Elon Musk

Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company xAI is facing a second lawsuit, alleging it illegally emits toxic pollutants from its massive data centers, which house its supercomputers and run the Grok chatbot.

The new pending lawsuit alleges that xAI violates the Clean Air Act and was filed Friday by the renowned civil rights group, the NAACP. The group’s 40-page notice of intent to sue alleges that xAI is polluting black communities near its Southaven, Mississippi, facility. The pollution comes from more than a dozen portable methane generators installed by xAI without permits, the notice claims.

The NAACP’s first notice of intent to sue was filed last June and involves similar allegations regarding the company’s data center in Memphis, Tennessee. In order to file a lawsuit under the Clean Air Act, parties must file a notice of intent to sue at least 60 days in advance. The NAACP’s case in Memphis did not go to trial after xAI obtained permits for its generators there.

“As we shared when xAI began operations in Tennessee, this illegal pollution only exacerbates complications for frontline communities who continue to bear the brunt of environmental injustice,” said Abre’ Conner, director of environmental and climate justice for the NAACP. “We cannot allow companies to promise a better future while releasing harmful chemicals into the air we breathe. »

xAI set up its first data center in Memphis in the summer of 2024. It is a massive facility, the size of about 13 football fields, and named “Colossus”. The company has since erected a second, even larger data center, named Colossus 2, in Southaven. Construction on a third xAI data center, also in Southaven, just started last month. Southaven is in the Memphis metro area, but just across the Mississippi state line.

Southaven community members have complained about noise and pollution from Colossus 2. They also circulated a petition demanding accountability from Mississippi regulators.

The NAACP’s Southaven lawsuit seeks to challenge xAI’s use of unauthorized turbines. The group says the company has 27 unlicensed generators at that facility, and it has documented that more than a dozen of them have been in operation since last fall.

Separately, a Guardian investigation published Friday found that xAI had moved into 27 portable turbines on Colossus 2. Using thermal imaging, the Guardian concluded that 18 of these generators have been in use since November.

These types of gas generators emit fine particles containing dangerous chemicals like formaldehyde and nitrogen oxide. These pollutants are linked to an increase in diseases such as asthma, respiratory diseases and certain cancers. The NAACP says xAI’s 27 turbines in Southaven have the potential to emit a “staggering amount” of nitrogen oxides, likely making the facility the largest industrial source of the chemicals in the metro area.

Mississippi state regulators say the turbines fall under a loophole and do not require permits because they are portable and temporary, which is how Tennessee regulators initially treated xAI generators. But the Environmental Protection Agency maintains that such sources of pollution require permits under the Clean Air Act.

“xAI has once again built a polluting power plant without any permits and without any notice to neighboring communities” said Patrick Anderson, senior attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center, who is working with Earthjustice to represent the NAACP. “There are no loopholes or exceptions – xAI breaks the law while leaving local communities to deal with the consequences. »

If the intent to pursue the notice results in litigation, the NAACP said, it seeks an injunction, civil penalties and costs to cover attorney’s fees.

xAI did not respond to a request for comment.