NAACP, environmental group notify Elon Musk's xAI company of intent to
sue over facility pollution
[June 18, 2025] By
ADRIAN SAINZ
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — The NAACP and an environmental group said Tuesday
that they intend to sue Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company xAI
over concerns about air pollution generated by a supercomputer facility
located near predominantly Black communities in Memphis.
The xAI data center began operating last year, powered in part by
pollution-emitting gas turbines, without first applying for a permit.
Officials have said an exemption allowed them to operate for up to 364
days without a permit. But Southern Environmental Law Center attorney
Patrick Anderson said at a news conference that there is no such
exemption for turbines — and that regardless, it has now been more than
364 days.
A 60-day notice of an intent to sue, a prerequisite to filing a lawsuit
under the Clean Air Act, was sent to xAI in a letter. The Southern
Environmental Law Center is representing the NAACP in its possible legal
challenge against xAI and its permit application, now being considered
by the Shelby County Health Department.
The xAI company responds
The company said Tuesday that it takes its commitment to the community
and environment seriously.
“The temporary power generation units are operating in compliance with
all applicable laws,” an xAI statement said.
Musk’s xAI has said the turbines will be equipped with technology to
reduce emissions — and that it is already boosting the city’s economy by
investing billions of dollars in the supercomputer facility, paying
millions in local taxes and creating hundreds of jobs. The company also
is spending $35 million to build a power substation and $80 million to
build a water recycling plant to the support Memphis Light, Gas and
Water, the local utility.
The chamber of commerce in Memphis made a surprise announcement in June
2024 that xAI planned to build a supercomputer in the city. The data
center quickly set up shop in an industrial park in south Memphis, near
factories and a gas-powered plant operated by the Tennessee Valley
Authority.
What opponents are saying
Opponents say the supercomputing center is stressing the power grid.
They contend that the turbines emit smog and carbon dioxide, pollutants
that cause lung irritation such as nitrogen oxides and the carcinogen
formaldehyde.
The Southern Environmental Law Center said the use of the turbines
violates the Clean Air Act, and that residents who live near the xAI
facility already face cancer risks at four times the national average.
The group also has sent a petition to the Environmental Protection
Agency.
Critics say xAI installed the turbines without any oversight or notice
to the community. The company requests to operate 15 turbines at the
site, but the Southern Environmental Law Center said it hired a firm to
fly over the facility and found up to 35 turbines operating there at
times.
The permit itself says emissions from the site “will be an area source
for hazardous air pollutants.” A permit would allow the health
department, which has received 1,700 public comments about the permit,
to monitor air quality near the facility.
A contentious public meeting
Opponents of the facility say city leaders have not been transparent
with the community about their dealings with xAI, and they are
sacrificing the health of residents in return for financial benefit.
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The xAI data center is seen, May 7, 2025, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP
Photo/George Walker IV, file)
 At a community meeting hosted by the
county health department in April, many of the people speaking in
opposition cited the additional pollution burden in a city that
already received an “F” grade for ozone pollution from the American
Lung Association.
A statement read by xAI’s Brent Mayo at the meeting
said the company wants to “strengthen the fabric of the community,”
and estimated that tax revenues from the data center are likely to
exceed $100 million by next year.
“This tax revenue will support vital programs like public safety,
health and human services, education, firefighters, police, parks
and so much more,” said the statement.
The company has expanded to a second location, a 1
million-square-foot property not far from the current facility.
The mayor of Memphis weighs in
Mayor Paul Young said In his weekly newsletter Friday that an
ordinance now requires that 25% of xAI’s city property tax revenue
be reinvested directly into neighborhoods within 5 miles of the
facility.
Young also said that no tax incentives or public dollars are tied to
the project.
“Let’s be clear, this isn’t a debate between the environment and
economics,” Young said. “It’s about putting people before politics.
It’s about building something better for communities that have
waited far too long for real investment.”
Boxtown punches back
One nearby neighborhood dealing with decades of industrial pollution
is Boxtown, a tight-knit community founded by freed slaves in the
1860s. It was named Boxtown after residents used material dumped
from railroad boxcars to fortify their homes. The area features
houses, wooded areas and wetlands, and its inhabitants are mostly
working class residents.
Boxtown won a victory in 2021 against two corporations that sought
to build an oil pipeline through the area. Valero and Plains All
American Pipeline canceled the project after protests by residents
and activists led by state Rep. Justin J. Pearson, who called it a
potential danger to the community and an aquifer that provides clean
drinking water to Memphis.
Pearson, who represents nearby neighborhoods, said “clean air is a
human right” as he called for people in Memphis to unite against xAI.
“There is not a person, no matter how wealthy or how powerful, that
can deny the fact that everybody has a right to breathe clean air,”
said Pearson, who compared the fight against xAI to David and
Goliath.
“We’re all right to be David, because we know how the story ends,”
he said.
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Reporter Travis Loller contributed from Nashville, Tennessee.
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