Elon Musk's xAI Faces Lawsuit Over Alleged Data Center Pollution

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), a U.S. civil society organization, is suing Elon Musk's artificial intelligence company, xAI, for alleged air pollution from its data centers.

Specifically, this lawsuit was filed against MZX Tech, a subsidiary of xAI, for operating a methane gas turbine at the Colossus 2 data center in South Memphis, Tennessee, without a permit.

According to Engadget, cited Antara, the NAACP filed a lawsuit in the Federal District Court of North Mississippi, referencing the Clean Air Act. The lawsuit aims to prevent xAI from operating the turbines without a permit. The court is expected to impose economic sanctions on xAI for violating federal law.

The details of the lawsuit revealed that xAI, Elon Musk's company, operated 27 gas turbines without a permit to power the Colossus 2 data center. xAI has set up several data centers to train Grok, its AI assistant, including Colossus 2.

The lawsuit alleges that gas turbines emit pollutants, including hazardous chemicals and fine particles, which can cause health problems such as heart disease, respiratory illness, and cancer. The main concern of this lawsuit is the proximity of Colossus 2 to residential areas.

Operating these turbines without an air permit violates the Clean Air Act, which requires pollution sources to obtain a permit before operating or constructing them. The NAACP is represented in the lawsuit by the Southern Environmental Law Center and Earthjustice.

Before filing today's lawsuit, the NAACP gave xAI a 60-day notice of intent to sue under the Clean Air Act. This lawsuit proceeded to court because xAI failed to respond to the notice.

"xAI's continued operation of these turbines without a permit and without adequate pollution controls is not only illegal, it's an insult to families living nearby who for months have expressed serious concerns about how air pollution from the company's personal power plant could impact their health and well-being," said Ben Grillot, Senior Attorney for the Southern Environmental Law Center.

Ben added, "xAI must be held accountable for its reckless, unlawful actions -- and that's exactly what this lawsuit aims to do."

In addition to the high cost of procuring components for AI models, companies often have to allocate resources to operate data centers where those components are installed.

Oracle is reportedly turning to gas generators like xAI. In the meantime, other industry leaders, such as Google, Meta, and Amazon, have invested in or signed deals with nuclear energy providers to support their data center operations.

The Ratepayer Protection Pledge is an agreement signed by several technology companies to prevent data centers from raising the average person's energy bill. One of the methods proposed in the pledge is building new energy sources for data centers.

Although building new energy sources quickly may help reduce costs, it fails to consider the negative environmental impact that new power plants have on the public.

Current U.S. leaders have overlooked this issue, and the latest AI framework proposal issued by President Donald Trump largely ignores the environmental impact of AI. Instead, his government has called for a simplified licensing process for energy generators.