Justice Department pressures court to drop NAACP's lawsuit against xAI data center
The Justice Department is pressuring a Mississippi federal court to dismiss a lawsuit filed by the NAACP against xAI and its subsidiary MZX Tech. The NAACP alleges that xAI's unpermitted gas-powered turbines in Southaven, Mississippi, are polluting Black neighborhoods and violating the Clean Air Act. The DOJ argues that the lawsuit poses a national security threat by impeding AI innovation critical for military operations.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) has intervened in a Mississippi federal court case, urging the court to dismiss a lawsuit brought by the NAACP against xAI and its subsidiary, MZX Tech. Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward, Jr., filed a memo arguing that the lawsuit, which seeks to halt operations at xAI's Colossus 2 data center, poses a national security threat by potentially disrupting AI innovation vital for military operations.
The NAACP's lawsuit claims that xAI's unpermitted gas-powered turbines in Southaven, Mississippi, disproportionately pollute Black neighborhoods and violate the Clean Air Act. This action builds on a previous victory in January, when the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ruled that xAI's Colossus methane gas turbines in Memphis, Tennessee, could not avoid air regulation requirements after a similar NAACP lawsuit. For its Mississippi operation, the NAACP is seeking an injunction and $124,000 per day per violation.
Advocates have called the Justice Department's intervention a rare move to prevent environmental law enforcement. Woodward also contended that individual citizens and groups should not have the authority to sue over Clean Air Act enforcement, asserting that the federal government should hold