NAACP threatens to sue Musk's xAI over Mississippi gas turbines powering data center

The NAACP on Friday threatened to sue Elon Musk’s AI company xAI, claiming that gas turbines powering a company data center are polluting communities in Mississippi and Tennessee.

“Our communities are not playgrounds for corporations who are chasing profit over people. xAI’s first data center is already creating pollution for Mississippi’s neighbors in Memphis — a community already suffering from decades of disparity — and now they are polluting in Southaven, Mississippi,” NAACP Environmental and Climate Justice Director Abre’ Conner said in a statement.

At issue are 27 gas turbines installed by xAI near its second data center Colossus 2 in Southaven, Miss. These turbines “emit smog-forming pollution, fine particulate matter, and hazardous chemicals like formaldehyde,” which can cause health problems including asthma, respiratory illness and certain cancers, the NAACP said.

“Together, xAI’s 27 unpermitted turbines in Southaven have the potential to emit a staggering amount of smog-forming nitrogen oxides (NOx), likely making the facility the largest industrial source of NOx in the 11-county Memphis metropolitan area,” the organization stated.

Conner said the NAACP “will not stand by idly.”

“We cannot allow for companies to promise a better future while pumping harmful chemicals into the air we breathe,” she added. “We demand that xAI follow the Clean Air Act and stop operating these unpermitted turbines to protect the people of Southaven.”

The Hill reached out to xAI for comment about the latest threat to sue. An xAI spokesperson told The Hill in June that the company’s turbines are “operating in compliance with all applicable laws.”

“We take our commitment to the community and environment seriously,” the spokesperson said at the time.

The Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) and environmental group Earthjustice sent on behalf of the NAACP a notice of intent to sue to xAI, accusing the company of violating the Clean Air Act by using the turbines without permits.

The notice of intent was sent to Musk, Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves (R) and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin, among several others. It’s the second threat of a lawsuit against the turbines in less than a year.

The NAACP added that xAI plans to operate a third data center in the same area and that there is no information about how it will be powered or if what “impact it will have on air quality and community members’ health.”