xAI built an illegal power plant to power its data center

This article was updated April, 14, 2026 to reflect new litigation.

Just south of the Tennessee-Mississippi state line sits dozens of unpermitted gas turbines that power xAI’s Colossus 2 data center while releasing smog-forming pollution, soot, and hazardous chemicals like formaldehyde. The tech company set up the de facto power plant with no permits, no public input, and no notice to nearby communities that will have to deal with the consequences.

SELC and Earthjustice are challenging xAI in a new lawsuit representing the national NAACP and its Mississippi State Conference. 

Among other things, the NAACP is asking the court to do the following:  

• Force xAI to stop operating unpermitted turbines at its Southaven facility,  
• Order xAI to install the best available control technology on the power plant, and  
• Assess financial penalties to xAI for every day it violated federal law. 

In February, we sent xAI a notice of intent to sue. The notice letter explaineds that xAI, a company founded by Elon Musk, is violating the Clean Air Act by installing and operating polluting gas-fired turbines without obtaining any permits.

The company’s failure to get a permit for its power plant—which is located near homes, schools, and churches—creates added health risks for families in North Mississippi and Memphis.  

“xAI’s continued operation of these turbines 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 wellbeing,” SELC Senior Attorney Ben Grillot said. “xAI must be held accountable for its reckless, unlawful actions—and that’s exactly what this lawsuit aims to do.”  

Putting nearby communities at risk 

xAI began operations at its second South Memphis data center, Colossus 2, late last year. To meet the data center’s massive power needs xAI installed 27 gas turbines at a nearby location in Southaven, Mississippi. The turbines can generate up to 495 megawatts of power — the equivalent of a conventional power plant.

Gas turbines emit smog-forming pollution, fine particulate matter, and hazardous chemicals like formaldehyde. These pollutants are tied to increases in, among other things: 

• Asthma,  
• Respiratory diseases,  
• Heart problems, and
• Certain cancers.  

xAI’s power plant in Southaven has the potential to emit more than 1,700 tons of smog-forming nitrogen oxides (NOx) each year. The staggering emissions numbers likely make the facility the largest industrial source of NOx in the greater Memphis area, an area already failing to meet national smog standards. The illegal turbines also have the potential to release up to: 

• 180 tons of fine particulate matter,  
• 500 tons of carbon monoxide, and  
• 19 tons of formaldehyde—a toxic, cancer-causing chemical—each year.   

“A data center should not be a potential death sentence for a community’s health. By looking to evade clean air laws to operate dirty turbines that emit pollution and known carcinogens, these companies are following a shameful, familiar pattern: asking Black and frontline communities to bear the toxic brunt of ‘innovation,’” said Abre’ Conner, NAACP Director of Environmental and Climate Justice. 

Pollution from the turbines powering xAI’s second data center risks worsening air quality problems in the Memphis area, which is already failing to meet national standards for smog. Memphis was recently named an ‘asthma capital’ and both Shelby County, Tennessee, and DeSoto County, Mississippi, received an “F” for ozone pollution from the American Lung Association. 

“We will not stand by idly. As we shared when xAI began its operation in Tennessee, this illegal pollution only exacerbates complications to frontline communities who continue to bear the brunt of environmental injustice,” Conner added. “We cannot allow for companies to promise a better future while pumping harmful chemicals into the air we breathe. We demand that xAI follow the Clean Air Act and stop operating these unpermitted turbines to protect the people of Southaven.”

“Copying and pasting” an unlawful strategy 

This isn’t the first time xAI has built a powerplant in the Memphis area without any permits or public oversight. The company began operations at its first site, Colossus 1, in June of 2024 and used as many as 35 unpermitted gas turbines to power the facility. Despite receiving intense public pushback over the use of illegal turbines and the lack of public input and transparency around Colossus 1, xAI officials said it planned on “copying and pasting” its unlawful turbine strategy to power Colossus 2.  

xAI removed its unpermitted turbines at the Colossus 1 data center after SELC, on behalf of the NAACP, sent a notice of intent to sue under the Clean Air Act. The company obtained permits for its remaining 15 turbines. 

xAI is currently planning to operate a third data center in the Memphis area—this one also located in Southaven—but the company has not provided any details about how the third will be powered or the impact it will have on air quality and community members’ health.