Elon Musk’s xAI has installed 11 new turbines since mid-May at its Mississippi gas plant that powers its artificial intelligence products, increasing the total number of polluting methane gas turbines at the site to at least 57, according to the NAACP and environmental advocacy groups.
That’s enough allegedly unpermitted turbines to power an estimated 738,000 to 950,000 homes. And enough to emit five times the amount of nitrogen oxide as the nearby Memphis International Airport, which was, until recently, the greatest polluter in that metropolitan area.
The allegations come as the American public is increasingly concerned about the potential community impacts from a nationwide explosion of data center construction and as the Trump EPA has promised to support an AI economy and leave as many regulatory decisions as possible to states and local communities.
The groups sued the company and a subsidiary in April for running dozens of turbines before obtaining the necessary permits or installing legally required pollution controls since it started operations around the Tennessee-Mississippi border roughly a year ago. The company has also made inconsistent and late disclosures to Mississippi’s Department of Environmental Quality about its most recently installed turbines, the groups said Wednesday in an update to their complaint.
