NAACP sues Musk’s xAI over data center pollution

The NAACP has initiated a federal lawsuit against Elon Musk’s xAI and its subsidiary, MZX Tech, accusing the companies of illegally operating unpermitted methane gas turbines at their Colossus 2 data center project near Memphis, Tennessee. The complaint, lodged in a federal court in North Mississippi, asserts that xAI is violating the Clean Air Act by running 27 gas turbines without the necessary permits required for major sources of pollution. Abre’ Conner, the NAACP’s director of environmental and climate justice, condemned the alleged evasion of air quality laws, stating that such actions disproportionately burden Black and frontline communities. The lawsuit highlights that the turbines, located in Southaven, Mississippi—approximately 13 miles south of Memphis and near residential areas and churches—have the potential to annually emit over 1,700 tons of smog-forming nitrogen oxides (NOx), making them the largest industrial source of NOx in the Memphis area, which already struggles to meet national smog standards.