Civil rights group says Musk's xAI data center has just been given "a free pass to break the law"
The NAACP says the Trump administration has effectively given Elon Musk permission to break environmental law after the Justice Department moved to dismiss the civil rights group's lawsuit against the company's AI data center on Monday.
Steve Jones/Flight by Southwings for SELC
The NAACP says the Trump administration has effectively given Elon Musk permission to break laws set out in the Clean Air Act after the Justice Department moved to dismiss the civil rights group's lawsuit against the company's AI data center on Monday, saying that Grok is "essential" for national security.
- The NAACP is suing xAI over 59 unpermitted gas turbines at its Memphis data center, alleging they illegally expose a predominantly Black community to serious health risks.
- The Trump administration sided with xAI, arguing Grok is critical to national security and was used during US military strikes on Iran – making the turbines too important to shut down.
- The NAACP called this a "blatant power grab," pointing out the DOJ never disputed the pollution was unlawful – only that Grok was too valuable to be switched off.
Key Takeaways by nexos.ai, reviewed by Cybernews staff.
The lawsuit focuses on the Colossus supercomputer facility in South Memphis, which powers xAI's Grok artificial intelligence platform.
To meet the site's enormous energy demands, xAI has deployed 59 portable gas turbines that emit nitrogen oxides, fine particulate matter, and other pollutants, which the NAACP points out are linked to asthma, respiratory illness, heart disease, and certain cancers.
America’s biggest African American civil rights organization alleges the turbines were installed and operated without the permits required under the Clean Air Act, exposing predominantly Black communities in Memphis and neighboring North Mississippi to unlawful pollution.
The Memphis facility is also guzzling up 1.5 million gallons of water per day for cooling, with plans to scale to 13 million gallons per day, tapping into Memphis’s vulnerable aquifer system.
As Cybernews wrote in March, the environmental impact of this far outweighs the noble work Musk’s electric car behemoth Tesla has done on climate.
Grok essential to the war effort, government says
But in a filing submitted Monday, the Justice Department sided with Musk's company, arguing that shutting down the turbines would threaten US national security.
The NAACP threatens American national, economic, and energy security by seeking to shut off the power supply for artificial-intelligence innovation."US Department of Justice
"In doing so, the NAACP threatens American national, economic, and energy security by seeking to shut off the power supply for artificial-intelligence innovation that supports the Department of War's military operations," the motion states.
The DOJ argued that federal enforcement authority takes precedence over citizen-led environmental lawsuits, writing that "the Clean Air Act affords the United States primacy over citizen-enforcers when it comes to enforcement discretion."
According to the filing, Grok's continued operation and availability "is a matter of paramount national security."
The government described Grok as "one of only four proprietary state-of-the-art" AI models capable of supporting national security applications and "one of just three" suitable for "mission-critical operations across Secret and Top-Secret classified networks."
The missing proprietary model here might refer to the US Government’s well-publicized dispute with Anthropic, which has resulted in a supposed phase-out of use of its AI across government systems
The filing also highlighted the Pentagon's reliance on xAI technology during military operations in Iran, stating that they were crucial during its early days, known as "Operation Epic Fury.”
“Grok-enabled systems helped US forces "deploy over 2,000 munitions to 2,000 distinct targets within 96 hours."
“Blatant power grab”
In a statement issued on Tuesday, the NAACP dismissed the US security arguments as “vague” and a dangerous expansion of executive power.
"The claim is a blatant attempt to take power away from local communities, the courts, and Congress and consolidate it with the Trump administration," the organization said.
Abre' Conner, the NAACP's director of Environmental and Climate Justice, accused the administration of placing wealthy corporate interests above community health.
"The DOJ just told a court that xAI can break the law, because the Trump administration says so," Conner said.
"No company is above the Clean Air Act. We won't back down from this fight."Abre' Conner, the NAACP's director of Environmental and Climate Justice.
The civil rights group also noted that the Justice Department's filing does not dispute its allegations that xAI's turbines are emitting unlawful levels of pollution, arguing instead that the energy supporting Grok is too strategically important to be interrupted.
Has your password leaked?
The filing notes that the court has scheduled a hearing on NAACP’s preliminary injunction request for August 24 2026, suggesting that the case has not been dismissed just yet.
Unlock more exclusive Cybernews content on YouTube.