In the heart of Memphis, Tennessee, a venture by Elon Musk’s xAI to build a colossal artificial intelligence supercomputer is now the epicenter of a fierce community backlash.
Residents and environmental advocates are raising serious alarms over air pollution emanating from the facility, which powers its “Colossus” supercomputer using an array of methane gas turbines.
These turbines, crucial for the energy-hungry AI operations, are reportedly running without the standard emission controls or the federally mandated Clean Air Act permits, casting a shadow over a community already contending with significant air quality issues.
The struggle for breathable air has mobilized local action, recently highlighted by an “Environmental Justice Rally” at T.O. Fuller Park. This gathering followed what local news outlet ABC24 Memphis described as the county’s first public town hall discussing the health risks associated with the xAI Colossus facility.
Protesters brandished signs with messages like “Musk’s xAI Poisons Memphis” and “Our Air Our Lives,” their primary demand being that the Shelby County Health Department deny xAI an operating permit. The sentiment was palpable, with one young activist telling ABC24 Memphis, “Our health is not for sale and our environment really means a lot to us because we live in it.”
A Vulnerable Community Under a Cloud of Emissions
The xAI data center is situated in South Memphis, specifically in an area whose ZIP code, 38109, is over 90% Black, with a median household income of $36,000, according to the Census Bureau.
This same community already leads Tennessee in emergency department visits for asthma, and its air is officially considered unhealthy due to smog even before xAI’s arrival. The neighborhood of Boxtown, part of this ZIP code, was annexed into Memphis in 1968 but, as Politico reported, still faced struggles for basic municipal utilities like running water well into the 1970s.
Environmental organizations, after reviewing data, assert that xAI has swiftly become one of Shelby County’s most substantial emitters of nitrogen oxides (NOx)—gases that contribute to smog and can worsen respiratory ailments. Their estimates, reported by Politico, suggest an annual output of 1,200 to 2,000 tons of NOx, a figure that overshadows a nearby gas-fired power plant and an oil refinery. The area is also home to over 17 other industrial facilities already registered with the EPA’s Toxics Release Inventory.
Residents have described immediate consequences, including breathing difficulties and the smell of gas. Alexis Humphreys, a Boxtown resident, voiced her distress at a public hearing on April 25, asking, “How come I can’t breathe at home and y’all get to breathe at home?” while displaying her asthma inhaler.
This fight is personal for a community that has seen past environmental victories, such as halting a major oil pipeline and the closure of a medical sterilization plant that emitted carcinogenic ethylene oxide.
KeShaun Pearson of Memphis Community Against Pollution told Politico, “Elon Musk is a representation of the oligarchy we already knew was operating under Jim Crow. It’s a familiar evil.” Other residents expressed similar sentiments; Sarah Gadney joked to Politico, “If he’s the richest man in the world, buy this whole community up, make us millionaires, pave those streets with gold.”
Easter May Knox, a 74-year-old with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, added, “He may be a millionaire, a billionaire — whatever kind of ‘aire he is. But what we need here is clean air.”
State Representative Justin Pearson has been a prominent voice for the community. “We deserve clean air. Clean air is a human right,” he declared to ABC24 Memphis. He highlighted a significant discrepancy regarding the number of turbines, stating, “They are saying they have a permit for 15 gas turbines. Right now, we know that they have 35 gas turbines at that facility, and we know that 33 of those are operating currently.”
This claim is supported by thermal imaging conducted by environmental groups in late April 2025. Pearson also suggested that Health Director Dr. Michelle Taylor could impose daily fines of “$25,000 every single day” for pollution that he specified as including “130 tons of nitrogen oxide and 17.2 tons of formaldehyde.”
Navigating Permits and Power Needs
Elon Musk explained at the launch of Grok3 that the turbines were a temporary measure to get the third version of Grok, xAI’s AI chatbot, operational by February 17, until full utility power could be established.
Grok, which Musk once described on X as “the most fun AI in the world,” has also been noted for its capacity to generate controversial deepfakes, such as images of Mickey Mouse in a Nazi uniform.
An xAI environmental consultant, Shannon Lynn, who Politico reported was introduced at a Chamber of Commerce webinar simply as an expert without initial disclosure of his xAI connection, has argued that a regulatory loophole for temporary sources—those operating up to 364 days—exempts the current turbine setup from permits.
This position is strongly contested by environmental law experts. Bruce Buckheit, a former director of the EPA’s air enforcement division, told Politico, “There needs to be a permit beforehand. You don’t just get that first year for free.” John Walke, a former EPA attorney now with the Natural Resources Defense Council, also concurred with the Southern Environmental Law Center’s assessment that the turbines require stationary source permits, as reported by Politico.
The regulatory landscape is multifaceted. While xAI applied in January 2025 for permits for 15 turbines it intends to make permanent (promising to install selective catalytic reduction pollution controls to limit NOx to 2 parts per million only after approval), the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy reported in December 2024 that the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) had granted xAI a waiver.
This waiver purportedly allows the portable turbines to operate largely without pollution checks pending substation construction. The Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC), in an April 9 letter, urged the Shelby County Health Department (SCHD) to order xAI to halt all 35 turbines until a major source air permit is obtained, alleging Clean Air Act violations.
This is not an isolated incident for Musk’s companies; Politico noted previous environmental issues, including Tesla’s 33 air quality violations in California in 2021, SpaceX being fined in Texas for alleged wastewater dumping, and The Boring Co. also being fined in Texas for unpermitted stormwater discharge.
Local officials’ awareness and responses have evolved. SCHD Director Michelle Taylor indicated at the April hearing that her office wasn’t initially informed about the turbines. Yet, in August 2024, her department, after an EPA consultation, had stated it lacked authority over the “mobile” turbines.
An EPA Region 4 letter from November 2024 expressed an expectation that the turbines would cease operations “in the next few months” and suggested air monitoring, which has not occurred.
xAI’s local representative, Brent Mayo, previously stated that installing pollution controls (after permit approval) “will make xAI the lowest-emitting facility in the country,” according to Politico.
The Colossal Energy Footprint of AI
This Memphis controversy is a stark illustration of the voracious energy demands of the AI sector. xAI’s Colossus supercomputer, designed for training large language models like Grok, began with over 100,000 Nvidia Hopper GPUs in June 2024. Nvidia’s Hopper GPUs are advanced processors optimized for AI workloads, delivering substantial computational power but also consuming considerable energy.
By November 2024, xAI was reportedly working to double this to 200,000 GPUs, and by December 2024, announced plans for a tenfold expansion to over 1 million GPUs.
Musk has stated that Colossus will eventually require 2,000 megawatts of power. Currently, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) has only approved an initial 150 MW. The permitting process for additional power is ongoing, though the TVA board’s capacity to approve new rates for data centers was recently complicated when President Trump fired two of its members, as reported by Politico. The proliferation of data centers has also contributed to a gas turbine shortage nationwide.
The initial power shortfall was significant; as of August 2024, the xAI site reportedly had only 8MW of grid power available, leading to the early use of mobile generators. The Greater Memphis Chamber of Commerce and MLGW actively recruited xAI, with Musk announcing the Memphis location on X in June 2024 with the message, “Elvis is in the building.”
Chamber President Ted Townsend told Politico, “We have established the efficiency, the partnership, really the culture of ‘yes’ that we are able to get to what you need and really provide for our community,” and added regarding companies locating in the area, “It doesn’t always require a community to say, ‘Well, we are OK with that or we are not. It’s a capitalistic thing. Companies come in and they operate.”
The city is now being marketed as a “Digital Delta.” In March 2025, xAI further signaled its long-term commitment by acquiring a 1 million-square-foot site in Southwest Memphis for future expansion.
This occurred against a backdrop of the Trump administration’s EPA announcing priorities that include making the U.S. the AI capital and “unleashing American energy dominance.” xAI’s local representative, Brent Mayo, reposted a clip on X of EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin discussing these themes, commenting, “Preach.” Politico also noted that the Trump administration had allowed Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency to eliminate programs dedicated to reducing pollution in communities of color.
Community’s Stand and Next Steps
Community leaders, including Rep. Pearson, are scheduled to deliver public comments directly to Mayor Lee Harris and the Shelby County Health Department this week, signaling their continued determination. The Politico article described the scene near the xAI facility with a “loud, high-pitched buzzing” from the turbines, contrasting with the “almost-rural feel” of nearby Boxtown, where chemical and sewage smells from the industrial park sometimes waft through.
