NAACP Sues Elon Over His Noxious AI Data Center
Sign up to see the future, today Can’t-miss innovations from the bleeding edge of science and tech Elon Musk may have yet another day in court, at least if the NAACP has anything to say about it. The oldest civil rights organization in the United States has named Elon Musk’s AI company, xAI, in a new lawsuit, alleging that the turbines powering its “Colossus” data center violate the Clean Air Act of 1970. For months, xAI has used 27 unpermitted gas turbines — each about the size of a bus — to power the data center used to run the chatbot Grok. The practice has had horrible consequences for the Black, working class neighborhood where the turbines are located, whose residents are stuck breathing xAI’s noxious exhaust. According to the Guardian, the Mississippi lawsuit seeks to force xAI to stop using the turbines without permits, plus civil penalties to cover legal fees. On top of spewing nitrogen dioxide, a gas that causes irreversible respiratory damage over time, the turbines emit a horrendous sound that’s made …
