NAACP sues xAI

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People sued Elon Musk’s xAI on April 14, saying the company illegally ran 27 gas turbines in Southaven, Mississippi, to power its Memphis-area data centers. (earthjustice.org) The federal complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi, also names xAI subsidiary MZX Tech. The suit says the turbines operated between August and December 2025 without the air permit required under the Clean Air Act. (cnbc.com) Those turbines sit in Southaven, just across the state line from xAI’s Colossus 1 and Colossus 2 facilities in Memphis, where the company is building out computing capacity for its Grok chatbot and other artificial intelligence systems. (cnbc.com) A data center is a warehouse full of computers, and those computers need constant electricity. When the grid cannot supply enough power fast enough, companies can bring in gas turbines that work like jet engines on the ground to generate electricity on site. (cnbc.com) The legal fight is over whether xAI could treat those machines as temporary equipment. Lawyers for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People say there is no exemption here because the 27 turbines functioned as a major power plant and should have been permitted before they were installed and run. (mississippitoday.org) Earthjustice said the Southaven plant could emit more than 1,700 tons of nitrogen oxides a year, along with fine particulate matter, carbon monoxide, and 19 tons of formaldehyde. The group said those emissions would make it one of the largest industrial nitrogen oxide sources in the greater Memphis area, which already fails federal smog standards. (earthjustice.org) Residents in Southaven and Memphis have been protesting the turbines for months over air pollution and noise. Mississippi Today reported that neighbors living less than half a mile away described a constant humming from the existing turbine site, and parents told state officials they feared effects on their children’s health. (mississippitoday.org) This lawsuit lands one month after Mississippi regulators approved a separate permit for xAI to build a larger, permanent power plant with 41 gas turbines in Southaven. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is also trying to overturn that March 10 permit through a state appeal. (cnbc.com) xAI has argued in Mississippi proceedings that its turbines have emission controls, and Brent Mayo, the company’s vice president of operations, told regulators in March that the project would help the company “lead the global AI race.” Mississippi regulators said they approved the 41-turbine permit after considering public comments and community concerns. (mississippitoday.org) (cnbc.com) In the new federal case, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People wants a court order stopping the Southaven turbines unless xAI gets the required permits and pollution controls, plus civil penalties for each day of alleged violation. xAI did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment after the suit was filed. (cnbc.com)