xAI built an illegal power plant to power its data center
News ClipSouthern Environmental Law Center·Southaven, DeSoto County, MS·2/16/2026
xAI, a company founded by Elon Musk, has built an unpermitted power plant of 27 gas turbines in Southaven, Mississippi to power its Colossus 2 data center. The Southern Environmental Law Center, Earthjustice, and the NAACP are preparing to sue xAI for violating the Clean Air Act by operating the polluting turbines without permits and failing to notify nearby communities.
electricityenvironmentallegal
xAI
Gov: Mississippi State Conference of the NAACP, NAACP
Just south of the Tennessee-Mississippi state line sits dozens of unpermitted gas turbines that power xAI’s Colossus 2 data center while releasing smog-forming pollution, soot, and hazardous chemicals like formaldehyde. The tech company set up the de facto power plant with no permits, no p