Donald Trump and Elon Musk watch SpaceX launch in n Brownsville, Texas on November 19, 2024.Brandon Bell via Getty
This story was originally published by the Guardian and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration.
The Trump administration is coming to the defense of Elon Musk in a lawsuit over claims that his artificial intelligence company, xAI, is polluting residential neighborhoods in north Mississippi. The Department of Justice (DOJ) told a federal court late on Monday to throw out the case.
The lawsuit was filed by the NAACP in April over allegations that xAI and its subsidiary MZX Tech set up dozens of methane-gas turbines to power its data center in Southaven, Mississippi, without air permits. The suit claims these turbines emit toxic pollutants in violation of the Clean Air Act, and is asking a judge to block xAI from operating the machines.
“There is no moral or legal precedent for this…It’s a desperate attempt to protect wealthy tech companies from obeying the laws.”
The DOJ says this data center is being used to train and develop AI models that are “critical to the economy and the Department of War” and the turbines are necessary to power the facility. In a 33-page memo filed in Mississippi federal court, the government also claims that under the Clean Air Act, it can terminate such “citizen lawsuits.”
“The Department of Justice will not sit idly by while private organizations use environmental laws to undermine our national security,” said Adam Gustafson, a deputy assistant attorney general for the justice department’s environment and natural resources division.
xAI’s central focus is a chatbot called Grok, which is similar to ChatGPT but has been known for controversy including nonconsensual deepfakes, sexualized images of woman and minors, and referring to itself as “MechaHitler.” The Justice Department wrote in its filing that Grok’s continued availability was “paramount” to national security and the military version of the chatbot had assisted US forces “to deploy over 2,000 munitions to 2,000 distinct targets within 96 hours” in the war against Iran.
xAI’s parent company, SpaceX, had the largest initial public offering in history last week valuing it at more than $2 trillion. The IPO also minted Musk as the world’s first trillionaire. In recent weeks, xAI entered partnerships with Google and Anthropic to rent space in its data centers for billions of dollars annually.
Lawyers representing the NAACP said affected communities had long had the right to file suits against polluters and that the justice department cannot simply quash those cases. They added that all companies, even those contracting with the federal government, must follow environmental laws.
“There is no moral or legal precedent for this,” said Laura Thoms, the director of enforcement for Earthjustice, which is representing the NAACP along with the Southern Environmental Law Center. “This isn’t about national security; it’s a desperate attempt to protect wealthy tech companies from obeying the laws meant to protect people from pollution.”
xAI has two data centers in the region, nicknamed “Colossus 1” and “Colossus 2.” They are massive facilities, with the latter occupying 1 million square feet in Southaven. Colossus 1 is located in Memphis and a few miles from historically Black neighborhoods that have long dealt with harmful pollution. Both data centers have been subject to community backlash and protests.
The NAACP alleges that xAI has illegally installed and is operating 57 gas turbines at its Southaven facility—each one the size of a large bus. The group claims the data center has the capacity to emit more than 5,000 tons of harmful nitrogen oxides per year, along with fine particulate matter and toxic chemicals like formaldehyde, making it one of the top polluters in the region. These pollutants are tied to an increase in asthma, heart disease, respiratory illnesses, and cancer.
“Laws like the Clean Air Act are a bedrock insurance policy for communities to hold polluters accountable for decisions that cause them harm,” said Abre’ Conner, the director of environmental and climate justice for the NAACP. “This should not be up for debate.”
xAI did not return a request for comment.
