Musk’s xAI wins permit for datacenter’s makeshift power plant despite backlash

Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company xAI won approval on Tuesday to run 41 methane gas turbines at its “Colossus 2” datacenter in northern Mississippi. That’s nearly double the amount it has been operating.The turbines will help power xAI’s massive datacenters, which house the company’s “AI supercomputers”, or giant arrays of advanced chips, which in turn power the controversial AI tool Grok, the company’s most recognizable product.The decision, made by the Mississippi department of environmental quality, MDEQ, comes amid major public opposition to the datacenter, which demands enormous amounts of electricity. Community members and environmental advocates say the cluster of gas generators will contribute to hazardous air pollution in Southaven, Mississippi.“We are outraged,” said Abre’ Conner, the director of environmental and climate justice for the NAACP. “MDEQ chose to bulldoze through a decision that silenced the very residents most harmed by it.”Since xAI fired up Colossus 2 last year, bringing in unpermitted turbines, residents have complained of noise and air quality issues. At a public hearing held by MDEQ in Southaven last month, hundreds of people packed the room to express concerns over xAI’s impact on the community. According to NBC, no one spoke in favor of MDEQ granting the permit.“The scale, the speed, the intensity of this expansion are unlike anything this area has absorbed,” said Southaven resident Nathan Reed, per NBC. “This was not a thoughtful, phased development. It was an industrial surge imposed on our residential community.”The NAACP, which has instigated a lawsuit against xAI over Colossus 2’s pollution, says the MDEQ rushed its decision and dismissed community concerns. “It’s shocking that a state agency and board would refuse to address an unnecessary civic crisis, prioritizing convenience over justice,” Conner said.Amid similar community outcry, xAI set up its first datacenter in Memphis in 2024. It’s an enormous facility named “Colossus” that’s roughly the size of 13 football fields. Tennessee regulators granted a permit for 15 gas generators there last July. The company is additionally building a third datacenter in Southaven, dubbed “Macrohardrr”.The gas generators that xAI is using emit fine particulate matter that contains hazardous chemicals such as formaldehyde and nitrogen oxide, according to environmental groups. These pollutants are tied to an increase in diseases, such as asthma, respiratory illness, heart attacks and certain cancers. The areas where xAI’s datacenters are located already struggle with pollution, with the American Lung Association giving an “F” grade to both DeSoto and Shelby counties.The Southern Environmental Law Center says xAI’s 41 turbines in Southaven will likely make Colossus 2 one of the largest fossil fuel power plants in Mississippi and one of the area’s biggest polluters.“Mississippi state regulators appear to be more interested in fast-tracking xAI’s personal power plant than conducting a thorough review of its impacts and having meaningful engagement with the families that will be forced to live with this dirty facility,” said Patrick Anderson, a senior attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center.The MDEQ and xAI didn’t immediately return requests for comment.