Big Tech and AI companies are rapidly expanding their AI infrastructure, with xAI facing legal action over its use of gas turbines at its Memphis-based AI facility.
Elon Musk’s AI company, xAI, has come under legal scrutiny due to concerns about air pollution caused by the gas-powered turbines operating at its Memphis data center. Authorities have raised the issue, prompting legal proceedings against the firm.
On Tuesday, the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) issued a 60-day notice of intent to sue Elon Musk’s AI company, xAI, citing violations of the Clean Air Act related to its “Colossus” AI data center located in Memphis, Tennessee. The notice marks the beginning of potential legal proceedings against the firm.
The potential legal action, filed on behalf of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the country’s oldest civil rights organization, focuses on xAI’s decision to deploy numerous natural gas turbines to supply power to its facility rather than wait for a standard electrical grid connection.
According to the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC), xAI has been running the turbines without securing the necessary air quality permits. These turbines reportedly release dangerous pollutants, such as nitrogen oxides and formaldehyde, which constitutes a breach of the Clean Air Act.
The notice states that over the last year, xAI installed and ran a minimum of 35 combustion turbines and additional pollution-emitting equipment at the Colossus facility, all without securing the required preconstruction or operational air permits.
Authorities Ignore Repeated Formal Requests, Advocates Say
The notice further alleged that xAI did not implement the “Best Available Control Technology,” including selective catalytic reduction, to reduce emissions—an essential requirement under the Clean Air Act for major pollution sources.
SELC senior attorney Patrick Anderson informed Newsweek that the organization had submitted four separate formal appeals to the local health department, urging them to exercise their authority to uphold the law. However, he noted, “Obviously, that hasn’t happened.”
Civil Rights Group Raises Alarm Over Persisting Air Quality Issues
The Colossus data center has been established at the site of a former electronics manufacturing plant in South Memphis, adjacent to Boxtown—a largely Black neighborhood. The community already experiences poor air quality due to existing industrial pollutants in the vicinity.
The NAACP stated on X that it remains fully committed to confronting environmental racism wherever it emerges.
The civil rights group is pursuing injunctive relief, monetary penalties, legal fees, and associated litigation expenses.
Soaring Demand Reshapes the Data Center Landscape
Musk’s xAI is developing a second and significantly larger facility, Colossus 2, in Memphis and expects it to require at least 1 gigawatt of power.
The US Department of Energy projects that the rising demand for data centers—driven mainly by the rapid growth of cloud computing and artificial intelligence—could double or even triple by 2028.
According to a May report by research firm McKinsey, the global data center industry will require approximately $6.7 trillion in investments by 2030 to accommodate the accelerating demand.
Nick Ruck, director at LVRG Research, informed that AI’s unprecedented demand is encountering constraints due to limited data center infrastructure and electricity availability, while AI firms continue to grapple with rising expenses and delayed profitability. Institutions have projected that data center demand will surge by 165% by 2030, primarily driven by advancements in AI.
A recent agreement was signed by Amazon with Talen Energy to supply nuclear power for its AI data centers in Pennsylvania until 2042. Additionally, Amazon revealed its intention to allocate over $13 billion toward expanding AI and cloud infrastructure across Australia.
