xAI Musk plans to purchase $2.8 billion worth of gas turbines despite lawsuits filed by environmentalists
Elon Musk's artificial intelligence company, xAI, plans to invest $2.8 billion in the purchase of additional gas turbines to power its data centers. This comes amid an ongoing lawsuit against the company over air pollution near Memphis (U.S.).
This was reported by TechCrunch.
Information about the large-scale expansion of energy capacity became known from SpaceX’s publicly released IPO documents. Under the agreement, the xAI division plans to purchase new turbines over the next three years. Of the total contract amount, $2 billion will be allocated specifically to the purchase of mobile gas turbines—similar to those currently at the center of the legal dispute.
Last month, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) filed a lawsuit against Musk’s company, accusing it of using dozens of unregulated gas turbines. Advocates note that xAI’s industrial facilities are significantly worsening the environmental situation in one of the most polluted regions of the United States and are demanding a complete ban on the operation of these plants. Each type of such turbine is capable of emitting over 2,000 tons of nitrogen oxides into the atmosphere annually, which contribute to smog formation and the development of asthma. Currently, xAI has official approval for only 15 turbines, although 46 units were recently observed in operation.
xAI’s lawyers are attempting to circumvent strict environmental laws through a legal loophole. They argue that the generators are “mobile” because they remain on truck trailers, and Mississippi state laws allow such equipment to be operated without special permits for up to one year. In contrast, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has already officially determined a violation of federal environmental standards, as large industrial turbines are subject to mandatory regulation regardless of how they are installed. In SpaceX documents, management openly acknowledges the critical dependence of its data centers on natural gas and confirms that potential court injunctions pose serious financial and operational risks to the AI business.
Elon Musk stated that a degree is not always an indicator of a quality education.
American billionaire Elon Musk has amended his lawsuit against OpenAI, demanding that company CEO Sam Altman be removed from the board of directors of the controlling charitable foundation. The entrepreneur is also seeking more than $150 billion in damages from OpenAI and Microsoft.
