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Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence data center in Memphis, Tennessee, is facing a lawsuit over air pollution from the fleet of mobile gas-fired turbines used to power the massive computer facility called Colossus. The Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC), on behalf of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), has given Musk’s artificial intelligence company, xAI, 60 days to respond before filing a lawsuit under the Clean Air Act.
xAI installed dozens of natural gas turbines instead of waiting for a local electric grid connection. The SELC claims that xAI has been operating these turbines without necessary air quality permits, emitting hazardous pollutants into a low-income community already plagued by poor air quality. “We have sent formal requests to the local health department four times,” said SELC senior attorney Patrick Anderson, “but they haven’t acted.”
Anderson noted that during this time, Musk’s company has added more turbines as it increases computing power at Colossus. The SELC argues that a permit for all these turbines would require pollution controls not currently in place.
Gas turbines emit smog-forming nitrogen oxides and hazardous chemicals like formaldehyde, linked to respiratory and heart diseases. The Colossus site is in a former electronic manufacturing facility near Boxtown, a predominantly Black community where air quality is already poor due to other industrial sources. Health data shows that residents of Boxtown have a cancer risk far higher than the national average.
NAACP President Derrick Johnson stated, “Big corporations like xAI treat our communities and families as obstacles to be pushed aside.” He added that billion-dollar companies set up polluting operations in Black neighborhoods without permits, thinking they won’t face consequences because residents lack the power to fight back.
In response, an xAI spokesperson told Newsweek that the power units are “operating in compliance with all applicable laws” at the Colossus site. However, on its website, xAI boasts about the speed of building the world’s largest supercomputer: “We took the project into our own hands, questioned everything, removed whatever was unnecessary, and accomplished our goal in four months.”
xAI has 200,000 graphics processing units (GPUs) in operation, with plans to expand. The legal action against xAI comes as the tech industry races to build AI data centers, facing power supply challenges due to long waits for grid connections. Many companies are developing on-site energy solutions, including renewable wind and solar, battery storage, fuel cells, and gas-fired mobile turbines.
SELC attorney Anderson aims to ensure that AI is powered without illegal pollution. “There is a right way and a wrong way,” he said. “If it’s the wrong way, someone will hold them accountable.”
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According to the passage, which company is facing a potential lawsuit over air pollution from its artificial intelligence data center in Memphis, Tennessee?
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