Key facts
- The Justice Department is supporting xAI in a lawsuit filed by the NAACP concerning unpermitted gas turbines.
- The DOJ argued that the turbines are essential for national security, citing Grok's role in military operations.
- The NAACP alleges xAI's 27 gas turbines illegally pollute the air, harming a predominantly Black community.
- xAI claims its portable turbines are mobile sources and exempt from permits.
- The lawsuit highlights concerns about asthma, respiratory diseases, heart problems, and cancer linked to the emissions.
The Department of Justice has intervened in a lawsuit, siding with Elon Musk's AI company xAI regarding the use of 27 unpermitted natural gas turbines powering its Colossus 2 data center near Memphis. The NAACP, represented by the Southern Environmental Law Center, sued xAI, alleging that the company's use of these turbines violates federal law and has worsened air quality in an already polluted region.
In a filing on Monday, the Justice Department asked the court to dismiss the case, arguing that the operation of Grok, an AI model powered by xAI's data center, is a matter of paramount national security. The DOJ stated that Grok is one of only four AI models that can support "national security applications" and one of three that can support "mission-critical operations across Secret and Top-Secret classified networks." The department cited an instance where Grok enabled the U.S. to "deploy over 2,000 munitions to 2,000 distinct targets within 96 hours" during a conflict with Iran.
The NAACP's lawsuit alleged that xAI's plant emits large amounts of pollution linked to asthma, respiratory diseases, heart problems, and certain cancers, and that the surrounding communities have a disproportionately high Black population. xAI has argued that it rightly relied on Mississippi's determination that the portable turbines it uses are "mobile" sources of pollution, thus exempting it from needing a permit typically required for "stationary" pollution sources like power plants.