‘Awful thing:’ Elon Musk’s xAI seeks dismissal of NAACP lawsuit

‘Awful thing:’ Elon Musk’s xAI seeks dismissal of NAACP lawsuit SOUTHAVEN, Miss. (WMC) - xAI, the supercomputer company headquartered in Memphis and owned by trillionaire Elon Musk, is seeking to dismiss a lawsuit filed against them by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). The lawsuit, initially filed by the NAACP, alleges that xAI violated the Clean Air Act by operating methane gas turbines in Southaven, Mississippi, before an air permit was granted. The Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) and Earthjustice, representing the civil rights group, filed a lawsuit against the tech company and its subsidiary MZX Tech. Now, xAI and its subsidiary have filed a motion to dismiss the suit, citing that its operation is crucial to the nation’s economy. “It’s like having engines, airplane engines just turned on, set right there in the woods, and then just turned on and just blowing. Just going,” said Cynthia Burgs, who lives not too far from the power plant in Southaven. Burgs said many residents feel powerless, disregarded and haven’t wanted the power plant from the start. “Hearing about different communities when different companies did certain things, how that effected them having children, you could get cancers, and different other kinds of health issues,” said Burgs. The Greater Memphis Chamber spearheaded the effort to bring xAI to the Mid-South. Its president and CEO, Duncan Williams, addressed the claims against the company over its turbine use in Southaven on Tuesday. “We represent the business community, so we understand that first,” Williams said. “Bringing in a company like xAI to this community, I should never have to apologize for. Nobody should. It’s a great thing. But as far as the citizens are concerned, obviously, we want to do things the right way, and as long as they’re staying within tests... I mean, there’s a lot of ‘he said, she said,’ and I think we really just need to look at the facts.” In defense of xAI, the U.S. Department of Justice wrote a letter saying that the “dismissal of this civil enforcement action accords with federal policy, national security, and the public interest.” The DOJ notes that xAI’s expansion is a national priority, suggesting that the NACCP’s lawsuit will hinder its growth. The DOJ stated it uses xAI’s chatbot Grok for national security operations and military operations. Grok was reportedly used to fight the war with Iran for more than 2,000 strikes in the first 96 hours of “Operation Epic Fury.” “It’s like, who do you take us to be? I mean, that, if it was that vital, y’all could have spoke up a long time ago,” said Burgs. Governor Tate Reeves also penned a letter to the court, arguing that the NAACP’s lawsuit is a threat to private ownership in the state and that federal authorities should intervene to dismiss it. If the court finds that xAI’s turbines were operating unlawfully, they could be asked to stop operating the turbines at its Southaven facility, and could be forced to pay fines for every day it violated federal law. “I really think that’s an awful thing. How can you do that to human beings? How can you live with yourself?” asked Burgs. “I don’t want the NAACP to stop speaking out about that.” Click here to sign up for our newsletter! Click here to report a spelling or grammar error. Please include the headline. Copyright 2026 WMC. All rights reserved. Join The Conversation We want to hear what you think. Create a free account to share your thoughts. Read our community guidelines here.