Feb. 13, 2026, 2:22 p.m. CT
Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company, xAI, is facing potential legal challenges once again in the Mid-South.
On Feb. 13, the Southern Environmental Law Center and Earthjustice sent a notice of intent to sue to xAI and its affiliate, MZX Tech LLC, regarding alleged Clean Air Act violations via unpermitted turbines powering its Colossus 2 data center in Memphis. The notice was filed on behalf of the NAACP and the Mississippi State Conference of the NAACP.
“We will not stand by idly. As we shared when xAI began its operation in Tennessee, this illegal pollution only exacerbates complications to frontline communities who continue to bear the brunt of environmental injustice,” NAACP Director of Environmental and Climate Justice Abré Connor said. “We cannot allow for companies to promise a better future while pumping harmful chemicals into the air we breathe. We demand that xAI follow the Clean Air Act and stop operating these unpermitted turbines to protect the people of Southaven.”
The 60-day notice of intent to sue is a first step before formal litigation against xAI. In June 2025, NAACP and Young, Gifted and Green sent a similar 60-day intent to sue notice to the company for violations at xAI’s Colossus data center at 3231 Paul R. Lowry Road in Memphis. (No formal litigation has been filed in Tennessee regarding the June notice.)
xAI representatives did not return a request for comment.
Why is the NAACP planning to sue?
In the Feb. 13 notice, the Southern Environmental Law Center claims that beginning Aug. 1 xAI began installing combustion turbines at its 2875 Stanton Road power plant in Southaven without preconstruction or operation permits. Since, the company has installed 27 turbines.
“These turbines were evidently installed to power xAI’s new Colossus II data center at 5400 Tulane Road, Whitehaven, Tennessee. Combined, the turbines have the potential to emit a significant amount of smog-forming nitrogen oxides (“NOx”) per year—well above the Clean Air Act’s major source threshold—and numerous other harmful pollutants…” the notice states.
In July 2025, xAI affiliate MZX Tech LLC purchased the former Duke Energy site at 2875 Stanton Road. In December, the company purchased an adjacent 104 acres to the site along with a warehouse at 2400 Stateline Road in Southaven.
On Jan. 8, xAI formally announced plans for a third data center at the Stateline Road facility called Macrohardrr. That proposed data center is about 200 yards away from xAI’s Colossus 2 data center at 5420 Tulane Road. Colossus 2 is located in Memphis’ Whitehaven neighborhood, across state lines.
The Stanton Road power plant is expected to provide power for both Colossus 2 and the recently announced Macrohardrr data center.
In August 2025, the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) approved an exemption to allow xAI to operate 18 unpermitted turbines at its 2875 Stanton Road site. (On Feb. 13, The Commercial Appeal reported the number of unpermitted turbines has grown to 27.)
The August decision from the MDEQ mirrors an exemption clause used by the Shelby County Health Department that allowed for the use of unpermitted turbines for up to 364 days. In December 2025, the Shelby County Air Pollution Control Board upheld an appeal from the NAACP and local advocacy group, Young, Gifted and Green, regarding the exemption clause. (The exemption was one of the main arguments used in the June 2025 60-day notice to sue from NAACP regarding the Colossus data center in Memphis.)
However, a recent U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) change overrules that exemption. On Jan. 15, the EPA updated its Federal Register and new regulations require all combustion and gas turbines, including temporary ones operating for under a year, to require operation and construction permits.
In accordance with that new EPA ruling, MDEQ is reviewing a permit application for 41 turbines at the Stanton Road site. MDEQ is hosting a public hearing regarding that permit application on Feb. 17 at Ranger Conference Center in Southaven.
The 41 turbines included in the permit application are separate from the 27 turbines that have been operating unpermitted at the site. Arkansas-based Trinity Consultants, which filed the January 2026 operations permit application on MZX Tech and xAI’s behalf with MDEQ, stated that the 41 turbines are expected to generate 1.2 gigawatts.
According to email correspondence between Trinity Consultant representatives and MDEQ staff from August 2025 to December 2025, the 27 unpermitted turbines are separate and temporary. They are not included in the January 2026 operations permit application.
Neil Strebig is a journalist with The Commercial Appeal. He can be reached at neil.strebig@commercialappeal.com, 901-426-0679 or via X/Twitter: @neilStrebig.
