Elon Musk's xAI Accused of Operating Gas Turbines Without Permits at Tennessee Data Center

Elon Musk's xAI operating gas turbines without permits at data center: environmental group

Elon Musk's AI startup, xAI, is facing criticism from environmental and health advocates for allegedly contributing to pollution in Memphis, Tennessee, by using natural gas-burning turbines at its data center without obtaining necessary permits. The Southern Environmental Law Center sent a letter to the Environmental Protection Agency and the health department in Shelby County where the data center is located. "Despite installing nearly 20 gas turbines with a combined capacity of about 100 MW - enough electricity to power around 50,000 homes - xAI apparently has not applied for any air permits for these turbines," the letter, dated Aug. 26, said. The environmental legal advocacy organization called on the county's health department to verify if xAI is operating these turbines without the required air permits and take enforcement action. It said the gas turbines emit large quantities of gases that exacerbate already poor air quality in Memphis. Musk said late last month a cluster of powerful Nvidia H100 chips started training xAI's Grok AI model and dubbed the Tennessee data center as "the most powerful AI training cluster in the world". He added the facility will provide a significant advantage in training the world's most powerful AI by December. Elon Musk and xAI did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The startup, founded by Musk last year and valued at more than $24 billion in May, was billed as a competitor to OpenAI, Alphabet's Google and Anthropic. It recently launched Grok 2 series of language models earlier this month.

Musk's xAI operating gas turbines without permits at data center, environmental group says

(Reuters) - Elon Musk's AI startup, xAI, is facing criticism from environmental and health advocates for allegedly contributing to pollution in Memphis, Tennessee, by using natural gas-burning turbines at its data center without obtaining necessary permits. The Southern Environmental Law Center sent a letter to the Environmental Protection Agency and the health department in Shelby County where the data center is located. "Despite installing nearly 20 gas turbines with a combined capacity of about 100 MW - enough electricity to power around 50,000 homes - xAI apparently has not applied for any air permits for these turbines," the letter, dated Aug. 26, said. The environmental legal advocacy organization called on the county's health department to verify if xAI is operating these turbines without the required air permits and take enforcement action. It said the gas turbines emit large quantities of gases that exacerbate already poor air quality in Memphis. Musk said late last month a cluster of powerful Nvidia H100 chips started training xAI's Grok AI model and dubbed the Tennessee data center as "the most powerful AI training cluster in the world". He added the facility will provide a significant advantage in training the world's most powerful AI by December. Elon Musk and xAI did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The startup, founded by Musk last year and valued at more than $24 billion in May, was billed as a competitor to OpenAI, Alphabet's Google and Anthropic. It recently launched Grok 2 series of language models earlier this month. (Reporting by Akash Sriram in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)

Musk's xAI operating gas turbines without permits at data center, environmental group says

The environmental legal advocacy organization called on the county's health department to verify if xAI is operating these turbines without the required air permits and take enforcement action. It said the gas turbines emit large quantities of gases that exacerbate already poor air quality in Memphis. Musk said late last month a cluster of powerful Nvidia H100 chips started training xAI's Grok AI model and dubbed the Tennessee data center as "the most powerful AI training cluster in the world". He added the facility will provide a significant advantage in training the world's most powerful AI by December. Elon Musk and xAI did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The startup, founded by Musk last year and valued at more than $24 billion in May, was billed as a competitor to OpenAI, Alphabet's Google and Anthropic. It recently launched Grok 2 series of language models earlier this month. (Reporting by Akash Sriram in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)

Elon Musk's xAI operating gas turbines without permits at data center: environmental group

Elon Musk's AI startup xAI is criticized for using natural gas turbines at its Memphis data center without necessary permits, potentially worsening the city's air quality. Complaints have reached the Environmental Protection Agency and local health officials. The Southern Environmental Law Center demands action as xAI's facility advances its AI technology.

Elon Musk's xAI has a Memphis-size pollution problem on its hands - Fast Company

Welcome to AI Decoded, Fast Company's weekly newsletter that breaks down the most important news in the world of AI. You can sign up to receive this newsletter every week here. As xAI ramps up operations at its new data center in Memphis, environmental advocacy groups are crying foul about the AI startup's pollution problem. The Southern Environmental Law Center sent a letter this week to the Health Department in Shelby County, requesting a probe into the Elon Musk-founded company's unpermitted use of natural-gas-burning turbines at its data center. The letter accuses xAI of installing "at least 18 gas combustion turbines" in recent months, producing a combined capacity of about 100 megawatts, or "enough electricity to power around 50,000 homes." XAI first announced the facility back in June, shortly after it raised $6 billion in Series B funding. Musk said in a post on X (formerly Twitter) last month that xAI was training its AI model -- dubbed Grok -- at the data center using 100,000 Nvidia H100 processors. While the company has been using the turbines to power the facility, it is in the process of transitioning to power from the Memphis Light, Gas and Water (MLGW) and the Tennessee Valley Authority. In fact, CNBC reports that MLGW provides 50 megawatts of power to xAI, but the facility still requires another 100 megawatts -- which is where the turbines come in.

Elon Musk's AI startup is apparently making pollution worse in Memphis

Elon Musk found a home for his artificial intelligence startup's supercomputer -- but now it's being blamed for making pollution worse in the area. In June, xAI chose Memphis, Tennessee for its "gigafactory of compute," after Musk reportedly asked chipmaker Nvidia to prioritize its shipments of AI chips to xAI and his social media platform X, over his electric vehicle company Tesla. However, local advocates are raising concerns over xAI's use of gas-powered turbines as smog in Memphis exceeds national air quality standards. In a letter to the Shelby County Health Department this week, the Southern Environmental Law Center says xAI's supercomputer "requires an enormous amount of electricity," and that the startup "has installed at least 18 gas combustion turbines over the last several months" to meet that demand, with more possibly coming. Combined, the turbines "have the capacity to emit about 130 tons of the ozone-precursor nitrogen oxides (NOx) per year, ranking the turbines as the 9th largest source of NOx in Shelby County," according to the SELC. Meanwhile, the startup "apparently has not applied" for the air permits required before installation and operation of some of the turbines, the SELC said. On behalf of local groups, the environmental nonprofit is asking the health department to confirm if xAI is operating its turbines without an air permit, and to order the startup to stop operating until they get the permit. "South Memphis has been overburdened by industrial pollution for decades, and turning a blind eye to unpermitted gas turbines at the xAI facility is only going to continue the long legacy of environmental injustice in these predominately Black communities," Amanda Garcia, senior attorney at the SELC, said in a statement shared with Quartz. "We are urging health officials to investigate these turbines and take necessary action in order to help Memphians breathe easier." The Shelby County Health Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. xAI could not be reached for comment. Meanwhile, xAI reportedly plans to use power from Memphis Light, Gas and Water and the Tennessee Valley Authority in the long-term, and MLGW told CNBC it is providing the startup with 50 megawatts of power. The data center reportedly needs an additional 100 megawatts. In May, xAI raised $6 billion in a round counting Andreessen Horowitz and Sequoia Capital as investors. The OpenAI competitor has developed its own chatbot, Grok, as a competitor to ChatGPT.

Elon Musk's A.I. Ambition Faces Environmental Scrutiny

Local environmental groups in Memphis, Tenn. say Elon Musk's A.I. startup xAI is worsening local pollution. Multiple environmental groups in Memphis, Tenn. said a recently opened data center operated by Elon Musk's xAI is contributing to the city's already dire smog problem. The groups claimed that xAI's use of gas turbines, which power the supercomputing facility, lacks proper permits and will only aggravate the city's poor air quality. Such issues aren't out of the ordinary for Musk, whose other companies have previously faced environmental scrutiny. Sign Up For Our Daily Newsletter Sign Up Thank you for signing up! By clicking submit, you agree to our <a href="http://observermedia.com/terms">terms of service</a> and acknowledge we may use your information to send you emails, product samples, and promotions on this website and other properties. You can opt out anytime. See all of our newsletters Musk, who is CEO of SpaceX, Tesla (TSLA) and The Boring Company, established xAI last year and raised $6 billion for the startup in May. Its primary product thus far is Grok, a chatbot that claims to be able to express more humor and less political correctness than rivals like OpenAI's ChatGPT. To develop and train next-generation Grok models, Musk in June announced plans to open a data center in a former manufacturing facility in Memphis. Housing 100,000 of Nvidia (NVDA)'s H100 graphics processing units (GPUs), xAI's data center can accommodate 50 megawatts of power from the municipal utility Memphis Light, Gas and Water (MLGW) and plans to eventually expand this capacity to 150 megawatts. The facility currently generates power using gas combustion turbines. xAI has installed at least 18 gas turbines but failed to obtain the required air permits for them, according to a letter sent this week by the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) on behalf of four climate groups to the Shelby County Health Department, which counts Memphis among its cities. "South Memphis has been overburdened by industrial pollution for decades, and turning a blind eye to unpermitted gas turbines at the xAI facility is only going to continue the long legacy of environmental injustice in these predominantly Black communities," said Amanda Garcia, an attorney for SELC, in a statement shared with Observer. "We are urging health officials to investigate these turbines and take necessary action in order to help Memphians breathe easier." SELC, which claims that xAI's turbines don't meet permit exemption criteria, noted that the startup's turbines have the capacity to emit 130 tons of nitrogen oxides (NOx). This would make them the 9th largest source of NOx, a pollutant that contributes to smog, in Shelby County. The region already has a longstanding smog issue and was graded "F" by the American Lung Association for its air quality. "In other words, Memphis residents currently breathe unhealthy air, and the problem is worsening," said the group's letter. The organization has not yet received a response from the health department, according to SELC. xAI did not respond to requests for comment. Elon Musk's companies have a history with environmental groups This isn't the first time one of Musk's projects has faced environmental pushback. The Boring Company, his tunneling venture, has received numerous violations linked to its development sites in Bastrop County, Texas. Citations from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) claim the company has failed to minimize its discharge of pollutants in truck washout water, among other violations. SpaceX has also received violations from the TCEQ regarding pollutants in discharged wastewater released near Boca Chica, Texas, where its Starbase development center is located. And earlier this year, Tesla was sued by a climate nonprofit for allegedly emitting pollutants since 2021 through its paint shop operations in Fremont, Calif. When it comes to the concerning environmental impacts of A.I. data centers, xAI isn't alone. Greenhouse gas emissions have soared as Big Tech races to develop the facilities powering their models, which are expected to consume vast amounts of energy to keep up with demand. Data centers, which currently consume 1 percent to 2 percent of global power, could see this figure increase to 3 percent to 4 percent by the end of the decade and more than double their carbon dioxide emissions during that time, according to Goldman Sachs researchers. Google (GOOGL)'s greenhouse gas emissions, for example, rose 48 percent between 2019 and 2023, while Microsoft (MSFT)'s have soared by 29 percent since 2020.