xAI Introduces 19 New Gas Turbines Amid Ongoing Legal Battle

xAI has expanded its second data center campus in Southhaven, Mississippi, by adding 19 natural gas turbines in the past two months, according to internal emails reviewed by WIRED.

This expansion occurs amid a lawsuit from the NAACP and several environmental organizations, which allege that xAI is breaching the Clean Air Act by operating over two dozen natural gas turbines at the site without the necessary air permits.

Emails between a Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality official and a representative from Trinity Consultants, obtained via a public records request by the Southern Environmental Law Center and shared with WIRED, reveal that xAI installed 19 portable gas turbines on-site in Southhaven from late March to early May. This raises the total number of turbines at the site to 46.

A spreadsheet included in the correspondence to MDEQ features a column titled “Total Power Output,” which seems to detail the megawatt capacity of each turbine. Since mid-March, xAI appears to have added over 500 megawatts of natural gas turbines.

Combustion of natural gas can emit greenhouse gases and deteriorate air quality. Neither officials from MDEQ nor xAI responded to WIRED’s inquiry for comments. The report of the new turbines being added to the facility, referred to as Colossus 2, was first published by Mississippi Today.

“As indicated by the facility, all portable/temporary turbines are equipped with control technology to minimize emissions,” stated agency spokesperson Jan Schaefer in comments to Mississippi Today. “MDEQ is assessing the situation and will inform the facility when it can no longer bring additional portable/temporary turbines on-site.”

In April, the NAACP, along with the SELC and Earthjustice, initiated legal action against xAI, claiming that the company was operating a “personal power plant” in Southaven by running 27 gas turbines without the required permits. Ben Grillot, an attorney with SELC, noted that their organization spotted six additional turbines during a drone flyover in April. It was only after obtaining the MDEQ emails that the team became aware of the 19 new turbines. According to the emails reviewed by WIRED, eight of the 19 new turbines, generating over 200 megawatts of output, were installed after the lawsuit’s initiation.

The original xAI site, Colossus 1, located just across the state line in Memphis, Tennessee, faced extensive criticism in 2024 when locals alleged that gas turbines were being operated without the proper permit. Colossus 1 is situated in Boxtown, a historically Black neighborhood that has long struggled with poor air quality.

Regulators in both Tennessee and Mississippi have stated that since xAI’s turbines are portable, the company has a year to operate them without permits as per the Clean Air Act. Last July, Memphis’ local health department issued a permit for the turbines at the Colossus 1 site despite significant community opposition. In March, amid similar public outcry, the MDEQ granted an air permit for the Southaven location to run 41 gas turbines. (SELC contends that the 27 turbines cited in its lawsuit, along with the ones added recently, are not included under this permit. Neither xAI nor the MDEQ responded to WIRED’s inquiries regarding whether the turbines mentioned in the emails are covered by the air permit issued in March.) Drone footage and public records obtained by the news outlet Floodlight indicate that multiple turbines at the site were operational in the weeks prior to the MDEQ issuing the permit.