The Trump administration is trying to help Elon Musk’s xAI Corp. defeat a Clean Air Act lawsuit brought by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). The United States said the NAACP lawsuit threatens an xAI data center that powers Grok systems needed by the military.
The NAACP defendant xAI and its subsidiary MZX Tech in April, alleging that they violated the Clean Air Act by operating 27 gas turbines without an air permit in Southaven, Mississippi. The number of unauthorized turbines increased to 57 in mid-May and there were plans to install two more, the NAACP said in a June 12 presentation.
“Defendants’ Colossus gas plant powers xAI’s nearby Colossus 2 data center, which in turn powers the ‘Grok’ chatbot,” the lawsuit says. Gas turbines have raised concerns about health and noise complaints.
Lawyers for the U.S. Department of Justice urged a federal judge to dismiss the case in a presentation yesterday. The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality determined that the turbines do not require permits, according to the US document.
The lawsuit “threatens innovation in artificial intelligence, as well as the energy needed to drive it,” according to the US document. “The NAACP’s attempt to cut off power that supports Grok also threatens national security because… Grok provides critical support for the War Department’s military operations.” The US court filing said xAI’s Grok Gov model helped carry out targeted attacks in Iran during Operation Epic Fury.
Grok was used with the Maven Smart System to help US forces “deploy more than 2,000 munitions to 2,000 different targets in 96 hours during Operation Epic Fury, a testament to the vastly increased operational efficiency made possible by the Grok Gov model,” according to a statement by Cameron Stanley, director of digital and artificial intelligence at the War Department. The Grok Gov model has unique features not found in any other AI model, he wrote.
US helps xAI break law, group says
The United States argues that “xAI should be allowed to break the law solely because the Trump administration says so.” saying the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC), which represents the NAACP in the case.
