Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company xAI has installed 59 natural gas turbines for its Colossus 2 data center project in Tennessee without securing federal clean air permits, according to communications between regulators and xAI representatives.
A Reuters analysis based on government data and information in the correspondence with regulators found that potential emissions from the turbines are far beyond the threshold that would require a federal permit and would be released near predominantly Black communities already estimated to be suffering disproportionately high rates of lung disease.
The findings, which have not been previously reported, reflect how exploding electricity demand from AI data centers is driving companies to build off-grid power plants at a pace outstripping environmental oversight, with potentially big risks to public health.
The number of unpermitted turbines identified by Reuters is about double what xAI has publicly acknowledged.
xAI did not respond to Reuters’ request for comment.
The company previously said it was running 27 unpermitted turbines for Colossus 2 as of January and has argued the permits are not required. At least 57 of the 59 turbines are located in Mississippi, just over the state line from Tennessee where the data center is located.
Civil rights groups including the NAACP and the Southern Environmental Law Center sued xAI in April to halt their operations, arguing the turbines produce emissions subject to the federal Clean Air Act and shouldn’t be operated without permits. They contend the turbines are polluting homes, schools and churches in historically Black communities.
I wrote about the NAACP’s notification letter to authorities earlier this year – click here to revisit that for additional context.
Click here for the full Reuters deep dive for more case studies on the communities affected by xAI’s hyperscalers.
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