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The Department of Justice and the state of Mississippi have just moved to intervene in a lawsuit filed by the civil rights group NAACP against xAI, claiming that xAI’s business is a matter of national security.
Back in April, the NAACP filed a lawsuit against Elon Musk’s xAI and subsidiary MZX Tech over the alleged operation of 27 methane gas turbines near Memphis, claiming they were unlawfully operated without an air permit. The gas turbines power the Colossus 2 data center, which itself powers xAI’s chatbot, Grok, aka MechaHitler, also known for its proliferation of nonconsensual sexual deepfakes on X.
Gas turbines are internal combustion engines that rely on natural gas to spin the turbine and generate energy and they have been particularly popular as the driving engine of Silicon Valley’s unprecedented data center buildout effort. The turbines emit smog-forming pollution, fine particulate matter, carbon monoxide and formaldehyde, all of which are “tied to increases in asthma, respiratory diseases, heart problems, and certain cancers,” according to the NAACP. The Memphis region, where the turbines are located, already has some of the worst asthma rates in the nation.
“Our right to clean air is not up for negotiation, especially when companies prove expediency, not people, is their priority,” NAACP director of environmental and climate justice Abre’ Conner said in a press release at the time. In the lawsuit, the NAACP asked the court to declare xAI’s actions as in violation of the Clean Air Act, force it to cease operations at the unpermitted turbines and order the best available control technology, and impose financial penalties.
xAI doubles down on polluting turbines
In the weeks following the filing of the original lawsuit, xAI reportedly continued adding gas turbines. As of mid-May, the number of turbines is up to 57, according to WIRED. The NAACP promptly filed a request for injunctive relief to stop the company from running the turbines until a decision is made on the case.
This week, the Trump administration’s DOJ sided with Musk’s company and asked the court to let it intervene as a plaintiff and then dismiss the lawsuit.
Through its attempts to stop the operation of the unpermitted turbines, the DOJ argues that “the NAACP threatens American national, economic, and energy security by seeking to shut off the power supply for artificial-intelligence innovation that supports the Department of War’s military operations.”
According to the government’s memo submitted in support of xAI, Grok is “one of only four proprietary state-of-the-art AI models” that could support the Pentagon’s national security applications, and one of three that can support “mission-critical operations across Secret and Top-Secret classified networks.” Grok was also allegedly used in the U.S. campaign against Iran, with the model assisting American forces in deploying “over 2,000 munitions to 2,000 distinct targets within 96 hours.”
Along with the DOJ, Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves also submitted documents in support of xAI.
Even if the NAACP somehow manages to prevail against the DOJ in its case, Musk and his company seem dogged in their decision to use gas turbines. And as the data center buildout continues to accelerate, xAI’s reliance on gas turbines is likely to increase in tandem. In parent company SpaceX’s IPO filing unveiled last month, the company shared plans to buy roughly $2 billion worth of mobile gas turbines and related equipment, on top of an existing purchase agreement with an unspecified company to acquire $925 million worth of gas turbines through 2029.
