Aug 28 (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 turbines in its data center without obtaining the necessary permits.
The Southern Environmental Law Center has sent a letter to the Environmental Protection Agency and the Health Department in Shelby County, where the data center is located.
“Although xAI has installed nearly 20 gas turbines with a total capacity of about 100 MW – enough power to supply about 50,000 homes – it apparently has not applied for air permits for these turbines,” the Aug. 26 letter said.
The environmental organization called on the county health department to investigate whether xAI is operating these turbines without the required air permits and to take appropriate action.
It was said that the gas turbines would emit large amounts of gases that would worsen the already poor air quality in Memphis.
Musk said late last month that a cluster of powerful Nvidia H100 chips had begun training xAI’s Grok AI model, calling the Tennessee data center “the most powerful AI training cluster in the world.”
He added that 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.
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Reporting by Akash Sriram in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri
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