xAI Flouts Environmental Laws in Memphis, Leaving Residents to Suffer

xAI, SpaceX, and the Race for AI Buildout

xAI, now under SpaceX, has been running unpermitted gas turbines at its Memphis Colossus data center, polluting the air and harming local communities. Despite a lawsuit from the Southern Environmental Law Center, the DOJ intervened citing national security, and xAI has only agreed to remove the turbines by July 2027. The company's evasive PR and the disproportionate impact on a majority-Black area highlight a troubling pattern of corporate impunity in the AI buildout.