Pollution from Musk’s unpermitted xAI power project hits hardest in Black communities

Elon Musk's xAI has installed 59 natural-gas turbines to power its Colossus 2 AI data center—mostly in Mississippi just over the Tennessee border—without federal Clean Air Act permits, about double the number xAI publicly acknowledged.
Reuters analysis says those turbines could emit large amounts of nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide and formaldehyde, while residents report constant noise and live in neighborhoods with higher asthma and lung disease rates.
Civil-rights groups have sued to halt operations, regulators and the EPA are involved, and the case could set important precedents on how environmental rules apply to power-hungry AI facilities.