Musk’s xAI is being blamed for its data generators – now it’s costing another $2.8B

Elon Musk’s xAI has found itself hot water for using polluting generators at its storage facility near Memphis, Tennessee. Now it wants to buy more of it.

In SpaceX’s IPO filingreleased on Wednesday, the company said its xAI unit will also buy $2.8 billion worth of turbines to build AI infrastructure over the next three years. One contract, valued at $2 billion, is for “hand-held gas turbines,” the type being sued here.

The NAACP wrote a a case against xAI last month to work many non-gas driven turbines which causes the air to be very bad in one of the most polluted parts of the world. The agency has requested a ban on the use of xAI in turbines. Meanwhile, xAI has been to be granted permission for 15 turbines. As of a few weeks ago, he was using 46.

Each type of turbines xAI in operation can emit more than 2,000 tons of NO._x annual pollution, a group of chemicals that contribute to the smoke that causes asthma.

The company says it can operate the turbines for up to a year without permits because they are “mobile” – that is, still on the trailer they were shipped from. The company appears to be using the difference between state and federal definitions. Mississippi says it doesn’t have to allow portable generators.

But state regulations say turbines of that size, even when mounted on a trailer, are still subject to emissions regulations. The EPA ruled earlier this year that xAI was operating the turbines in violation of state law.

SpaceX acknowledges the risks of its IPO filing. “We currently rely heavily on natural gas technology and electrical systems to operate our data centers,” it wrote. Injunctions or revoked licenses “could adversely affect our AI business.”