Elon Musk's xAI Faces Pollution Allegations Over Colossus Supercomputer in Memphis

Elon Musk's xAI accused of lying to Black communities about harmful pollution

Elon Musk raced to build Colossus, the world's largest supercomputer, in Memphis, Tennessee. He bragged that construction only took 122 days and expected that his biggest AI rivals would struggle to catch up. To leap ahead, his firm xAI "removed whatever was unnecessary" to complete the build, questioning "everything" that might delay operations and taking the timeline "into our own hands," xAI's website said. Now, xAI is facing calls to shut down gas turbines that power the supercomputer, as Memphis residents in historically Black communities -- which have long suffered from industrial pollution causing poor air quality and decreasing life expectancy -- allege that xAI has been secretly running more turbines than the local government knows, without permits. Alleging that the unregulated turbines "likely make xAI the largest emitter of smog-forming" pollution, they've joined the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) in urging the Shelby County Health Department to deny all of xAI's air permit applications due to "the stunning lack of information and transparency." One resident, KeShaun Pearson, president of the local nonprofit Memphis Community Against Pollution, accused xAI of "perpetuating environmental racism" on the news show Democracy Now. He's contended that xAI considers Memphis residents "not even valuable enough to have a conversation with," Time reported. Perhaps even more disturbing to Memphis residents than the alleged lack of transparency was the mysterious appearance of fliers distributed by an anonymous group called "Facts Over Fiction," The Guardian reported. Papering Black neighborhoods, the fliers apparently downplayed xAI's pollution, claiming that "xAI has low emissions." The SELC told Ars that the fliers came just as the legal group obtained thermal imaging that appears to catch xAI in a potential lie. After earlier images revealed that xAI has at least 35 turbines on site -- despite its pending application only seeking permits for 15 -- Memphis mayor Paul Young claimed that xAI had said it was only using 15. Investigating, the SELC teamed up with SouthWings to capture aerial thermal imaging. And that showed "33 turbines giving off significant amounts of heat, meaning they were currently running at the time of the photo," SELC said. "The new images clearly show that more than 30 of xAI's methane gas turbines are operating, debunking recent claims that the company was merely storing -- and not running -- more than half of the turbines outside of its data center," the SELC alleged. SELC Senior Attorney Amanda Garcia has suggested that these images back up residents' fears that xAI may be relying on non-disclosure agreements with the local government to run its facilities however it wants. Her group noted that Tennessee officials and residents should be aware that "Musk's SpaceX and Boring Company have been fined thousands of dollars for violating environmental regulations in Texas." "It is appalling that xAI would operate more than 30 methane gas turbines without any permits or any public oversight," Garcia said. "Without appropriate controls, gas turbines can release harmful pollution that is tied to asthma, respiratory illnesses, and certain types of cancers. xAI's failure to disclose that it's running dozens of these polluting turbines at its South Memphis data center has left Memphians in the dark about what is being pumped into the air they breathe every day." Although xAI reportedly ignored calls to engage Memphis residents living near the data center charging Colossus, the SELC said, the health department did not. On Friday evening, the department's Pollution Control Branch scheduled a public hearing where residents can finally weigh in on the draft permit that xAI submitted earlier this year. They can also submit comments online. xAI did not respond to Ars' request to comment. xAI plans unbridled growth amid backlash To secure permits that would allow xAI to operate 15 turbines -- fueling 22 startups and shutdowns each annually -- xAI is required to install the best available emissions control technology, the draft permit notes. Any failures to keep emissions low -- even if "caused by poor maintenance, careless operation, or any other preventable upset condition or preventable equipment breakdown" -- puts xAI at risk of enforcement actions from the health department and the EPA. xAI's submission claimed that each of the 15 turbines "is equipped with Solar's Dry Low Emission (DLE)/SoLoNOx control technology" and other systems to reduce emissions of nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, and volatile organic compounds. For those reasons, xAI expects to be granted permits, the submission suggests. However, even before xAI's construction began, Shelby County was already in violation of the eight-hour ozone standard that protects public health, which means that xAI may need to implement additional controls. The health department's hearing will be the first time the public will have a chance to push for better accountability. Seemingly hoping to quell the backlash, the strange fliers seem like an attempt to push back by sowing discord. "Those 15 xAI turbines?" the fliers distributed to thousands of Memphis residents said. "They're specially designed to protect the air we all breathe." Nothing directly links xAI to the fliers. But xAI will have to play defense, as it has no plans to slow down its data center expansion, with its leading supercomputer facing immense competition to dominate the AI industry. Musk swore the rapid construction and subsequent work to double the size were "just the beginning," while the xAI website boasts that "no one has come close to building at this magnitude and speed." The company has already invested $7 billion into the data center, and those costs will only grow. To keep pace, xAI has already earmarked recent funding to "further accelerate our advanced infrastructure," a December blog noted. Further, researchers expect that "within six years, building the leading AI data center may cost $200 billion," TechCrunch reported Friday, so those costs will likely keep growing, while likely deepening Musk's entrenchment in Memphis and any feared pollution from that into the foreseeable future. Additionally, products dependent on the data center will keep Musk's facility humming in Memphis. The primary use of xAI's supercomputer today is to fuel Grok, the chatbot running on posts from Musk's social network X. In February, xAI unveiled a preview of its most advanced version of Grok yet, and other "groundbreaking" products are in the pipeline, X's blog said. xAI accused of lying to win AI race While xAI pushes forward, Justin Pearson, a Tennessee state representative and brother to KeShaun, is hoping to rally support to shut xAI's alleged pollution down and potentially mess with Musk's breakneck-speed AI ambitions. On Instagram, he accused xAI of "lying to us about xAI's methane gas pollution" when "we know methane gas leads to more asthma attacks" and "more respiratory illness." He's also called on local officials to unmask the anonymous group behind the fliers "to combat the lies and misinformation." As xAI must now confront pollution accusations in Memphis, the company continues positioning its supercomputer as a world-changing technology, winning approvals for its Memphis facility by promising to be a boon to the local economy. Soon it will move past chatbots, as xAI intends to focus on autonomous vehicles, robotics, and scientific simulation, a business publication called Data Center Frontier reported. Currently, xAI "is exploring using AI in science to find new materials, save energy, and even help to find new drugs," that report noted. But although xAI's Colossus website asks, "What's one seemingly impossible question you'd answer for humanity," climate change solutions do not seem to register as highly among xAI's burning questions. As Colossus chugs along at what TechCrunch reported is an estimated 300 megawatts of power (as much as 250,000 households) -- and sustainable alternatives lack resources to sustain AI data center needs -- the Pearson brothers remain aghast that powering the future of AI seems inextricably linked to burning more fossil fuels. "It's frustrating because it could be better," KeShaun told Time. "The dissonance of having essentially the future of technology powered by fossil fuels is, you know, it just leaves me speechless."

Elon Musk's Nvidia-powered Colossus supercomputer faces pollution allegations from under‐reported power generators

Elon Musk fired up the Colossus Supercomputer in July last year, which used 100,000 Nvidia H100 GPUs on a single fabric. However, the site could only draw 7 MW at its launch, which could only power 4% of its GPUs. To solve this, Musk deployed several massive mobile generators to deliver the site's electrical demands. This was supposed to be a temporary solution. At the same time, the Memphis facility awaited approval from the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) for at least 50 MW of supply and the completion of its 150 MW substation (which was supposed to be finished by 4Q24). However, it's already 2Q25, and Ars Technica reports that residents discovered that the site is allegedly still using over 30 gas turbines that "release harmful pollution that is tied to asthma, respiratory illnesses, and certain types of cancers." Currently, xAI has an ongoing application with the Memphis authorities for 15 turbines. But when the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) partnered with South Wings to photograph the site with thermal imaging cameras, they discovered over 30 hotspots, indicating the number of generators operating on the site. These power sources operate without permits because a legal loophole allows generators to be used for 364 days without one. But with July 2025 coming quickly, xAI needs to have its applications approved. Otherwise, it risks slowing down its operations (or shutting down completely) without access to the electricity it needs for all its GPUs. We have to note that we only spot eight bright hotspots on the image shared by Ars Technica, which probably indicates an operating generator. The other hotspots are dimmer, which might suggest that they're either idle or cooling down. So, it could be that these generators are being used in shifts to avoid excessive damage to a unit. Still, we cannot know how many are running concurrently until we see actual records. The Colossus Supercomputer has already been approved for 150 MW, but experts say it needs at least 155 MW to run all 100,000 GPUs concurrently. Furthermore, Musk is aggressively expanding his AI dreams, and the site has doubled its computing power to 200,000 GPUs in just 92 days. If xAI is running all of these AI GPUs simultaneously, it would require at least 310 MW of power -- this doesn't include its miscellaneous power requirements, including electricity for lights, air conditioning, security systems, and more. With the tech billionaire reportedly raising more money to scale the site to a million GPUs, the Memphis site will likely require more power, at least 1.55 GW, to operate. Residents are complaining because xAI uses multiple methane gas turbines to cover the shortfall in its electrical needs. They said to Ars Technica that it "likely make[s] xAI the largest emitter of smog-forming" pollution, and that they're now working with the SELC to petition the Shelby County Health Department to reject xAI's gas generator applications. The latter's Pollution Control Branch has even scheduled a public hearing so that people living within the area can weigh in on the issue. What's disconcerting is that flyers from an anonymous group called "Facts Over Fiction" have started appearing around the affected neighborhoods. These brochures claim that "xAI has low emissions" and that the turbines used on the site are "specially designed to protect the air we all breathe." The people behind these notices cannot be traced directly back to xAI or Musk. Still, Justin Pearson, a Tennessee House of Representatives member, has urged local authorities to determine who was behind them.

Elon Musk's xAI accused of pollution over Memphis supercomputer

Hearing scheduled for Friday as residents say AI company has distributed leaflets that downplay pollution dangers Elon Musk's artificial intelligence company is stirring controversy in Memphis, Tennessee. That's where he's building a massive supercomputer to power his company xAI. Community residents and environmental activists say that since the supercomputer was fired up last summer it has become one of the biggest air polluters in the county. But some local officials have championed the billionaire, saying he's investing in Memphis. The first public hearing with the health department is scheduled for Friday, where county officials will hear from all sides of the debate. In the run-up to the hearing, secretive fliers claiming xAI has low emissions were sent to residents of historically Black neighborhoods; at the same time, environmental groups have been amassing data about how much pollution the AI company is likely generating. The dispute came to a head earlier this month when the Southern Environmental Law Center revealed that xAI had quietly moved in at least 35 portable methane gas turbines without air permits to help power its supercomputer. The group says this many generators have the capacity to power an entire city and are enormous emitters of toxic and carcinogenic pollution. The law center made the discovery by taking satellite images of the xAI facility. Days after the news broke, Memphis mayor Paul Young spoke in a public forum and said he had been in contact with xAI and that the company was not using all of the gas generators, according to WREG News. Young, who has long supported xAI's operations in Memphis, noted that the company has a pending permit application with the Shelby county health department to run 15 generators. "There are 35, but there are only 15 that are on," Young said. "The other ones are stored on the site." Now, the Southern Environmental Law Center has taken new photos of xAI that include thermal imaging. These photos show 33 turbines giving off significant amounts of heat, meaning they were all likely in use at the time the photo was taken. "It is appalling that xAI would operate more than 30 methane gas turbines without any permits or any public oversight," said Amanda Garcia, a senior attorney for the Southern Environmental Law Center. "xAI's failure to disclose that it's running dozens of these polluting turbines at its south Memphis data center has left Memphians in the dark about what is being pumped into the air they breathe every day." xAI, Young and the Shelby county health department did not return requests for comment. Musk calls the xAI supercomputer "Colossus". It's tasked with providing compute power for xAI's chatbot Grok. The building that houses Colossus is the size of 13 football fields and Musk has said he plans to double that. Last month, he purchased another property in Memphis to expand xAI's infrastructure there. The new property is 1 m sq ft. Artificial intelligence requires an immense amount of energy to carry out computations and provide quick responses to user queries. In the US, the majority of that electricity comes from burning fossil fuels. Within a couple of miles of xAI are several residential neighborhoods that have long dealt with industrial pollution. This area is historically Black and has higher rates of cancer and asthma and a lower life expectancy than other parts of the city. Members of this community have been outspoken in their opposition to xAI and have called for more oversight and environmental regulations on the company. Over the past week, thousands of residents here said they received fliers in the mail that downplay the pollution emitted from xAI's gas turbines. The fliers come from an anonymous group called "Facts Over Fiction" and have a bullet point list that alleges the turbines are "cleaner tech" and "minor" polluters because they use gas, rather than diesel or coal. The fliers say that the generators are low emissions and are regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Shelby county health department. Both of those agencies have said they did not issue permits for xAI's gas generators. "Those 15 xAI turbines?" the flier reads. "They're specially designed to protect the air we all breathe." Justin Pearson, a Tennessee state representative who is from this part of Memphis, said in an Instagram post that the fliers are "lying to us about xAI's methane gas pollution" and "we know methane gas leads to more asthma attacks, leads to more respiratory illness". He demanded to know who sent the fliers and encouraged all community members to attend the public hearing on Friday. "We have to combat the lies and misinformation," he wrote. "Clean air is a human right and the [Shelby county health department] has a duty to protect the air we breathe."