Key facts
- xAI and SpaceX are defendants in a class-action lawsuit filed by Mississippi residents.
- The lawsuit alleges a power plant supplying data centers generates excessive noise and vibrations.
- Plaintiffs claim the noise constitutes a public nuisance and has negatively impacted their health and home values.
- Damages are sought for emotional distress, reduced property values, and unspecified profits.
- Elon Musk is not named as a defendant in this specific lawsuit.
Elon Musk's artificial intelligence company xAI and his space exploration firm SpaceX are facing a class-action lawsuit filed by Mississippi residents. The plaintiffs allege that a power plant built to fuel nearby data centers is emitting constant and inescapable noise, negatively impacting their health and diminishing their property values.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Oxford, Mississippi, claims that xAI and SpaceX were negligent in failing to mitigate the disturbance, thereby creating a public nuisance. The case was brought forward by three residents on behalf of a class estimated to include over 10,000 individuals.
According to the lawsuit, the "AI boom is wreaking havoc on communities across the United States" by subjecting residents to persistent noise and vibrations. The plaintiffs are seeking damages for alleged emotional distress, reduced property values, and other harms, in addition to disgorgement of unspecified profits.
xAI subsidiary MZX Tech is also named as a defendant, though Elon Musk himself is not listed as a defendant in this particular case. A lawyer for the plaintiffs, Robert Wiygul, stated that homes should be sanctuaries, but the constant invasion of noise undermines this fundamental peace.
The lawsuit notes that xAI invested more than $20 billion in the power plant at Southaven, with backing from Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves. The plant's gas-fired turbines are used to power data centers in and around Southaven.
This is not the first legal challenge concerning the plant and data centers; the NAACP filed a lawsuit in April accusing xAI of violating environmental rules, a case that is still pending. The U.S. Justice Department has indicated it may intervene in the NAACP case, citing legal and policy questions surrounding the government's role in AI infrastructure.