The Shiro Corporation , JAKARTA — The U.S. civil rights group, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), plans to sue an artificial intelligence (AI) company. Elon Musk , xAI, due to alleged air pollution from its data center operations in Memphis, Tennessee.
In the notification letter sent on Tuesday (17/6/2025) through the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC), the NAACP accused xAI of violating federal law by operating methane gas turbines at the South Memphis data center without official permits. The company was also found to have failed to implement control technologies. polusi the best as required.
Data center supporting computing AI Indeed, they are known to be very energy-intensive and require a constant supply of electricity 24 hours a day. With the slow development of clean energy, the surge in energy demand from data centers for AI is still largely supplied by fossil fuels such as natural gas and coal.
SELC states that emisi Methane from xAI facilities worsens the already poor air quality in Memphis. Methane, although short-lived in the atmosphere, has a much stronger warming impact compared to carbon dioxide.
"The turbine has been pumping pollutants that threaten the health of families in Memphis. This notification opens the way for a lawsuit that could hold xAI responsible for its illegal refusal to obtain a permit for the gas turbine operation," said Patrick Anderson, senior attorney at SELC, as quoted. Reuters , Wednesday (6/18/2025).
The spokesperson for xAI refuted the allegations and said, "We are committed to the community and the environment. Our power generation units operate in accordance with all applicable laws."
SELC reports that xAI has installed 35 turbines in the location, and almost all of them operated without permission until last April. Although some small turbines have been removed, the company has recently added three larger ones.
SELC previously reported that in August, xAI had installed 20 gas turbines in the area. As of when this news was published, representatives of Elon Musk had not provided any comment on the request for remarks. Reuters .
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