NAACP Sues xAI Over Data Centre Air Pollution | Silicon UK Tech'

US civil rights group sues xAI over Colossus 2 data centre's use of polluting gas-powered turbines before it obtained permits

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US civil rights group the NAACP has sued xAI and subsidiary MZX Tech over a claim they illegally operated more than two dozen gas turbines in Mississippi to power xAI's Colossus 2 data centre, posing health risks to local residents.

In the lawsuit filed on Tuesday the NAACP, represented by Earthjustice and the Southern Environmental Law Centre, argued the two companies violated the Clean Air Act by running the 27 gas-fired turbines before obtaining the necessary permits.

The facility and others power xAI's Grok chatbot.

'Shameful'

Abre' Connor, director of the Centre for Environmental and Climate Justice at the NAACP said xAI's actions followed a "shameful, familiar pattern" of "asking Black and frontline communities to bear the toxic brunt of 'innovation'."

The permits, which were granted in March, are being challenged in a separate legal action filed earlier this month by the SELC on behalf of the NAACP and other groups, arguing the approval was carried out in an "extremely hurried fashion" that limited input from local communities.

Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality staff members "commented on the pressure they were under to issue this permit in an extremely expedited manner", the SELC claimed.

'Careful consideration'

The MDEQ said it issued the permits after "careful consideration".

The Colossus 2 facility in Southaven, Mississippi, and xAI's Colossus facility nearby in Memphis have been heavily criticised by local communities for their use of gas-fired turbines that emit particulate matter, carbon monoxide and formaldehyde, contributing to poor local air conditions.