New images reveal Elon Musk’s xAI datacenter has nearly doubled its number of polluting, unpermitted gas turbines

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — On Wednesday, a coalition of conservation and community organizations shared new information with the Shelby County Health Department that clearly shows xAI—a company founded by Elon Musk to run X’s chatbot ‘Grok’—has nearly doubled the number of on-site gas turbines at its South Memphis datacenter and is violating the Clean Air Act.

Recently, the coalition obtained aerial images of the xAI datacenter with the help of the organization SouthWings. Those images revealed that, in order to power the facility, xAI is using 35 methane gas turbines—far more than previously known and more than the company has submitted permit applications for. The number of turbines and extent of their emissions means xAI is required to have what’s called a ‘major source permit;’ however the datacenter continues to illegally operate these turbines without any permit at all.

“xAI has essentially built a power plant in South Memphis with no oversight, no permitting, and no regard for families living in nearby communities. These dozens of gas turbines are doing significant harm to the air Memphians breathe every day. We expect local health leaders to promptly act in order to hold xAI accountable for its clear violations of the Clean Air Act,” Southern Environmental Law Center Senior Attorney Amanda Garcia said.  

xAI’s gas turbines emit harmful pollution that worsens air quality throughout Memphis and increases risks for asthma and other respiratory illnesses. The dozens of turbines operating outside the datacenter likely make xAI the largest industrial source of the smog-forming pollutant NOx in Memphis, which has struggled with smog problems for years and is already not meeting federal standards for ozone. The turbines also emit harmful chemicals like formaldehyde, which is linked to types of cancers.  

“As a proud daughter of South Memphis, I am appalled and outraged that the Shelby County Health Department is forced to even consider allowing Elon Musk’s xAI to further desecrate our community with their toxic methane gas turbines,” LaTricea Adams, CEO and President of Young, Gifted & Green, said. “We already bear the brunt of environmental injustice, with our Black communities suffering from asthma and cancer risks that are among the highest in the nation. It is the moral obligation of our Health Department to use every tool at their disposal to protect us, not enable the exploitation of our neighborhoods for the profit of billionaire corporations.”

“Suffocating our community with formaldehyde and nitrogen oxide from these 35 dirty, unpermitted gas turbines shows the blatant disregard for the lives of the majority Black community in South Memphis. The rapid scaling of these dangerous toxic pollutants is this is reckless, irresponsible, and a threat to us all. The Shelby County Health Department must take decisive action and shut down xAI immediately,” KeShaun Pearson, Director of Memphis Community Against Pollution, said.

Combined, xAI’s 35 gas turbines have a generating capacity of 422 megawatts. In comparison, the Tennessee Valley Authority’s gas power plant in nearby Brownsville, Tenn., has a capacity of 425 megawatts. Yet, despite generating as much electricity as a power plant, the xAI datacenter currently operates without any oversight.

“That Elon Musk is being allowed to add such a massive power demand and put the burden of the resulting air pollution on the lungs of the people of Memphis is gross, and gross neglect on the part of local leaders and officials,” Sierra Club Tennessee Conservation Director Scott Banbury said. “Musk’s gas turbines, as well as the additional ones proposed by the Tennessee Valley Authority, will make Memphis’ ongoing problems with air pollution even worse and will impact people living throughout Shelby County.”

xAI began operations at its South Memphis datacenter in June of last year. From the beginning, the company operated with a stunning lack of transparency that left impacted communities in the dark. Even Memphis city officials were unaware of the facility’s plans and how it would be powered.

In the letter to the Shelby County Health Department, the community and conservation groups ask local health leaders to, among other things, issue an emergency order that requires xAI to stop using the turbines immediately and to reject the company’s pending air permit application.