DOJ calls – The Department of Justice moved to dismiss a NAACP lawsuit accusing xAI of operating unpermitted natural gas turbines at its Colossus 2 data center in Southaven, Mississippi. In court filings, the government argued that blocking the turbines could “threaten Am
On Monday, the Department of Justice stepped into the middle of a fight over power plants and public health—by arguing that stopping xAI from running unpermitted natural gas turbines would harm national security.
In a court filing. the DOJ sided with Elon Musk’s company. saying attempts to block xAI from operating the turbines “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 same filing sought to dismiss a lawsuit that the NAACP filed in April.
The case centers on xAI’s second data center site in Southaven, Mississippi, known as Colossus 2. The NAACP alleges xAI is not complying with the Clean Air Act and is endangering public health by running natural gas turbines without permits at the site.
In May, the NAACP asked for a preliminary injunction to stop xAI from running the turbines, arguing that using them without a permit “increases risks of asthma attacks and heart disease” in communities already burdened by pollution.
xAI and the DOJ did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The government’s argument leans heavily on the idea that xAI’s AI work is woven into military operations. In the DOJ memorandum. the agency pointed to only four artificial intelligence models—including Grok—that “support mission-critical operations across Secret and Top-Secret classified networks.” It also included a declaration from Cameron Stanley. the chief digital and artificial intelligence officer at the Department of Defense. describing how the military relies on Grok’s Gov model.
Stanley said the Grok Gov model is used to “support vital national security missions,” including being part of recent strikes against Iran. Forcing xAI to stop running the gas turbines that power Colossus 2, Stanley said, “directly threatens ongoing national security interests.”
The dispute over xAI’s turbines did not begin with this lawsuit. xAI—part of SpaceX—rose into national view in 2024 after residents in southwest Memphis began raising concerns that the company had started running unpermitted gas turbines at its first data center site. The Memphis region has some of the highest asthma rates in the country. and residents worried that adding more pollution without permits could worsen health impacts.
State agencies in both Tennessee and Mississippi previously claimed the company had a year to run the turbines without clean air permits. The NAACP disputes that timeline, arguing it does not match Environmental Protection Agency regulations.
While the lawsuit was filed in April. the scale of the turbine operation grew quickly. according to evidence highlighted by the NAACP’s legal partner. the Southern Environmental Law Center. The original complaint identified 27 turbines operating without a permit at the Colossus 2 site. But emails between xAI and state regulators obtained by SELC show that by mid-May. there were 57 turbines operating without permits at Colossus 2.
Many of those additional turbines, according to the emails, were added weeks after the NAACP filed its lawsuit.
The change in turbine numbers has consequences, according to the SELC. As the Colossus 2 turbines grew from 27 to 57. the organization says the site saw a 111 percent increase in nitrogen oxide emissions. an 83 percent increase in PM2.5 emissions. and an 88 percent increase in formaldehyde emissions since April.
The new filings now place the court in the middle of two starkly competing narratives: the NAACP’s warning that unpermitted operation is pushing health risks higher in already polluted communities. and the DOJ’s insistence that shutting down the turbines would cut power to AI systems described as mission-critical for classified military operations.
For now, the DOJ’s Monday intervention has put urgency on the legal question of dismissal—even as the factual dispute around the turbines’ growth and the claimed emissions increases continues to drive the stakes for the people living nearby.
DOJ NAACP xAI Elon Musk Colossus 2 Southaven Mississippi Clean Air Act natural gas turbines Grok national security Department of Defense Cameron Stanley asthma PM2.5 nitrogen oxide formaldehyde preliminary injunction Southern Environmental Law Center