Elon Musk’s new AI data center has turned a previously quiet Mississippi town into a noisy nightmare.
The $20 billion facility, run by Musk’s AI firm xAI, is powered by 27 methane gas turbines that run day and night, releasing smoke and emitting a constant noise like a jet engine. nbc news reports. The turbines were brought in by truck because Southaven, the rural community that Musk chose to build the data center, cannot provide the electricity needed for the facility.
And, of course, the rapid pace of the AI industry can’t stop us from waiting for the creation of more sustainable energy alternatives – or listening to the protests of locals who are concerned about how the peace of their city has been destroyed overnight by an installation that looks as if it was designed by Sauron himself. She said the noise caused resident Crystal Polk to move out of her home, which her family owned at a time when many black families were still sharecropping. nbc news.
He added, “I haven’t really understood that this is here and this is what’s happening.”
More noise makers are coming. The turbines are nominally intended to be “temporary”, meaning that XAI can install them before obtaining official permits. But XAI has also applied for permission to install 41 permanent turbines at the 114-acre facility, which doesn’t bode well for those hoping the noise will eventually die down.
Locals have complained about the fast pace of the facility which is disrupting the community.
“The scale, the speed, the intensity of this expansion is unlike anything this area has ever experienced,” said Southaven native Nathan Reed. nbc news. “This was not a thoughtful, phased development. This was an industrial boom imposed on our residential community.”
In a Facebook post, Mayor Darren Musselwhite, a Republican, acknowledged that the noise was a “legitimate concern” but described the outrage as politically motivated attacks against Musk. In January, he claimed that xAI had installed a $7 million sound wall to reduce noise, and suggested that the permanent turbines xAI plans to bring in would be quieter.
Many residents are not convinced, pointing to the minimal impact of the sound wall.
“We make fun of it and say, ‘It’s the Temu Sound Wall,'” said Taylor Logsdon, a resident who lives close to the facility and a member of a local group opposing the project. nbc.
And the noise may be just the beginning of their problems. Logsdon claims two of his children have developed respiratory problems since the facility came online. Southern Environmental Law Center, nbc The notes state that gas turbines release hazardous chemicals such as formaldehyde, a known carcinogen that can cause respiratory problems.
Southaven is not alone. Residents of Boxtown, a predominantly Black neighborhood outside Memphis, Tennessee, complain that the smoke released by XAI’s “Colossus” data canter is so overwhelming that it is making it difficult for them to breathe. There, XAI also deployed dozens of gas-powered turbines to run the facility without a permit, turning the site into one of the largest emitters of smog-causing nitrogen oxides in the surrounding counties. politico Reported last May.
Some Southaven residents may object to Musselwhite’s decision on the grounds that his criticisms are politically motivated. Eddie Gossett, 76, who lives across the street from the XAI facility, supported Musk’s initiative to reduce federal spending through DOGE. But they also complain that they cannot sleep due to the roar of the turbines.
Gossett had a suggestion for Musk: “You have to come to my house and stay for a week,” he told nbc.
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