Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company xAI is facing a second lawsuit alleging it is illegally emitting toxic pollutants from its giant datacenters that house its supercomputers and run the chatbot Grok.
The new pending lawsuit alleges that XAI is violating the Clean Air Act and was filed on Friday by the renowned civil rights group NAACP. The group’s 40-page notice of intent to sue alleges that XAI is polluting black communities near its facility in Southaven, Mississippi. The notice alleges that the pollution is caused by more than a dozen portable methane gas generators that XAI has installed without a permit.
The first notice of intent to sue the NAACP was filed last June and includes similar allegations regarding the company’s datacenter in Memphis, Tennessee. To file a lawsuit under the Clean Air Act, parties must file at least 60 days’ notice of intent to sue. The NAACP’s case in Memphis did not proceed toward trial after xAI obtained a permit for its generator there.
“As we shared when “We cannot allow companies to promise a better future by adding harmful chemicals to the air we breathe.”
xAI broke ground on its first datacenter in Memphis in summer 2024. It is a massive facility, approximately the size of 13 football fields, and has been nicknamed the “Colossus”. The company has since built a second, even larger datacenter, named Colossus 2, in Southaven. Construction of a third xAI datacenter, also in Southaven, still going Last month. Southaven is in the Memphis metropolitan area, but is located just over the state border in Mississippi.
Community members in Southaven have complained about the noise and pollution coming from Colossus 2. He has also circulated a letter petition Demand accountability from Mississippi regulators.
The NAACP’s lawsuit in Southaven aims to challenge xAI’s use of unpermitted turbines. The group alleges the company has 27 generators at the facility without a permit, and has documented more than a dozen of them being in use since last fall.
Separately, a Guardian investigation published on Friday found that XAI moved 27 portable turbines to Colossus 2. Using thermal imagery, the Guardian concluded that 18 of those generators had been in use since November.
These types of gas generators emit particulates that contain dangerous chemicals like formaldehyde and nitrogen oxides. These pollutants cause an increase in diseases like asthma, respiratory disease and some cancers. The NAACP says xAI’s 27 turbines in Southaven have the potential to emit “shocking amounts” of nitrogen oxides, making the facility the largest industrial source of the chemical in the metropolitan area.
Mississippi state regulators say the turbines fall within the loophole and do not require permits because they are portable and temporary, which is how regulators in Tennessee first dealt with XAI’s generators there. But the Environmental Protection Agency says such pollution sources require permits under the Clean Air Act.
“XAI has once again built a polluting power plant without any permits and without giving any notice to the surrounding communities.” said Patrick Anderson, a senior attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center, which is working with Earthjustice to represent the NAACP. “There are no loopholes or exceptions – XAI is breaking the law by leaving local communities to deal with the consequences.”
If the notice of intent to sue progresses to litigation, the NAACP said, it is seeking injunctive relief, civil penalties and costs to cover attorneys’ fees.
XAI did not respond to a request for comment.
