NAACP files intent to sue Elon Musk’s xAI company over supercomputer air pollution

By ADRIAN SAINZ MEMPHIS Tenn AP The NAACP filed an intent to sue Elon Musk s artificial intelligence company xAI on Tuesday over concerns about air poisoning generated by a supercomputer near predominantly Black communities in Memphis The xAI details center began operating last year powered by pollution-emitting gas turbines without first applying for a permit Executives have noted an exemption allowed them to operate for up to days without a permit but Southern Environmental Law Center attorney Patrick Anderson announced at a news conference that there is no such exemption for turbines and that regardless it has now been more than days The SELC is representing the NAACP in its legal challenge against xAI and its permit application now being considered by the Shelby County Vitality Department Musk s xAI stated the turbines will be equipped with apparatus to reduce emissions and that it s already boosting the city s financial market by investing billions of dollars in the supercomputer facility paying millions in local taxes and creating hundreds of jobs The company also is spending million to build a power substation and million to build a water recycling plant to the backing Memphis Light Gas and Water the local utility Opponents say the supercomputing center is stressing the power grid and that the turbines emit smog and carbon dioxide pollutants that cause lung irritation such as nitrogen oxides and the carcinogen formaldehyde experts say The chamber of commerce in Memphis made a surprise announcement in June that xAI planned to build a supercomputer in the city The content center swiftly set up shop in an industrial park south Memphis near factories and a gas-powered plant operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority The SELC has claimed the use of the turbines violates the Clean Air Act and that residents who live near the xAI facility already face cancer risks at four times the national average The group also has sent a petition to the Environmental Protection Agency Critics say xAI installed the turbines without any oversight or notice to the public The SELC also hired a firm to fly over the site and saw that turbines not as the company requests in its permit are located there The permit itself says emissions from the site will be an area source for hazardous air pollutants A permit would allow the wellness department which has received constituents comments about the permit to monitor air quality near the facility At a region gathering hosted by the county wellbeing department in April several of the people speaking in opposition cited the additional litter burden in a city that already received an F grade for ozone defilement from the American Lung Association Related Articles The National Weather Provision issues Alaska s first ever heat advisory Peanuts or almonds Rice or millet Planet-friendly grocery shopping choices go beyond cutting meat Ping ping ping Here s what it s like to drive into a big hailstorm in the name of science At least dead and missing in San Antonio after heavy rains flood parts of Texas As labor costs rise AI is learning to farm A comment read by xAI s Brent Mayo at the meeting explained the company wants to strengthen the fabric of the population and estimated that tax revenues from the input center are likely to exceed million by next year This tax revenue will aid vital programs like population safety robustness and human services learning firefighters police parks and so much more reported the declaration a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press The company also apparently wants to expand The chamber of commerce explained in March that xAI had purchased a million square-foot property at a second location not far from the current facility One nearby neighborhood dealing with decades of industrial garbage is Boxtown a tight-knit society founded by freed slaves in the s It was named Boxtown after residents used material dumped from railroad boxcars to fortify their homes The area features houses wooded areas and wetlands and its inhabitants are mostly working class residents Boxtown won a accomplishment in against two corporations that sought to build an oil pipeline through the area Valero and Plains All American Pipeline canceled the project after protests by residents and activists led by State Rep Justin J Pearson who called it a feasible danger to the society and an aquifer that provides clean drinking water to Memphis Pearson who represents nearby neighborhoods noted clean air is a human right as he called for people in Memphis to unite against xAI There is not a person no matter how wealthy or how powerful that can deny the fact that everybody has a right to breathe clean air commented Pearson who compared the fight against xAI to David and Goliath We re all right to be David because we know how the story ends he explained Reporter Travis Loller contributed from Nashville Tenn