The US environmental non-profit Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC), alongside other environmental groups, is preparing to sue xAI over the deployment of unpermitted gas turbines powering its Colossus 2 data center in Memphis, Tennessee.

“xAI has once again built a polluting power plant without any permits and without any notice to nearby communities,” SELC senior attorney Patrick Anderson said. “There are no loopholes or exceptions —xAI is breaking the law while leaving local communities to deal with the consequences, and we plan to take them to court.”

SELC, alongside Earthjustice and the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People), sent a notice of intent to sue to xAI for the tech company’s ongoing use of the turbines at the site. According to the letter, the group asserts that the Elon Musk-owned company is in violation of the Clean Air Act because it did not obtain the permits required to deploy the gas-fired turbines.

Operations at the data center began late last year, and to meet its energy demand, xAI reportedly installed 27 gas turbines at a nearby location across state lines in Southaven, Mississippi. According to reports, the turbines have an installed capacity of 495MW. SELC claims that the turbines have the potential to emit “a staggering amount of smog-forming nitrogen oxides, likely making the facility the largest industrial source of NOx in the 11-county Memphis metropolitan area.”

“xAI is running a de facto power plant without an air permit, without necessary pollution controls, and without regard for families living as close as a half mile away,” said Laura Thoms, enforcement director for Earthjustice. “We won’t let the company disregard the law and the health of Mississippi residents.”

This isn’t the first time xAI has gotten into hot water over the deployment of apparently unpermitted gas turbines at one of its data center sites. Last April, it was revealed that xAI had deployed up to 35 gas turbines at its Colossus Supercomputer I site in Memphis, more than double the 15 it had been permitted to deploy.

Following uproar from both local communities and environmental pressure groups, the company removed some of the controversial natural gas turbines in May. However, it subsequently obtained permission to install 15 gas turbines permanently at the data center.

The Memphis data center, which is home to xAI’s Colossus supercomputer, went live in July 2024 with an initial capacity of 150MW, covered by an 8MW grid connection and gas turbines. The grid connection was later increased to 150MW. The company has also been installing battery Megapacks from Tesla, another of Musk’s companies, to help manage its power at the site.

xAI is currently planning a third data center in Southhaven, Memphis. It has yet to provide information on how the facility will be powered.