Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company was accused by environmental groups this week of operating gas turbines at its new Memphis, Tennessee, data center without proper permitting.
The company, xAI, opened a supercomputer center in southwest Memphis in June. The operation requires significant power and has been relying in part on unauthorized smog-producing gas turbines, the Southern Environmental Law Center said in a letter submitted to a local health authority Monday.
SELC concluded that the gas turbines were being operated without permitting after their record requests for the permits this summer turned up empty.
In the letter, which was co-signed by four other Memphis-area environmental groups, SELC asked the Shelby County Health Department to investigate the missing permitting and halt turbine operations until proper authorization could be obtained.
