NAACP threatens El Musk's xAI with a lawsuit over Memphis air pollution

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People sent a letter to Elon Musk’s xAI on Tuesday, indicating its intention to file a lawsuit against the company for air pollution coming from the data center of the AI startup in Memphis.

Southern Environmental Law Center sent the letter on behalf of NAACP. It alleges that xAI violated federal laws by using methane turbines in its South Memphis data centre without obtaining permits or "best-available" pollution controls.

Data centers, which provide AI computing power, are power-intensive and need electricity 24 hours a day. Due to the slow pace in which clean energy is being deployed, fossil fuels such as natural gas and coal are meeting the increasing demand.

The methane emissions that are produced by human activities, such as oil production, gas generation, and electricity generation, are not long-lasting in the atmosphere but they are more potent as greenhouse gases than carbon dioxide.

SELC reported that emissions from xAI’s data center exacerbated the already poor air-quality in Memphis.

These turbines are a threat to the health of Memphis residents. This notice paves a way for a suit that can hold xAI responsible for its illegal refusal to obtain permits for its gas-turbines," SELC Senior attorney Patrick Anderson said.

We take our responsibility to the environment and community very seriously. An xAI spokesman said that the temporary power units were operating in accordance with all applicable laws.

SELC reported that the AI company had installed 35 turbines. SELC also stated that nearly all of them were operating without permits in April.

SELC also noted that while xAI removed some smaller turbines recently, it installed three larger turbines.

Environmental legal advocacy group said that xAI installed 20 gas turbines on the site in August.

Elon Musk's representatives did not respond immediately to the request for comment. Reporting by Vallari Shrivastava, Bengaluru. Editing by Shreya Biwas

(source: Reuters)