Elon Musk has announced his new company xAI, which he says aims to understand the true nature of the universe.
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Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence startup xAI is accused by environmental and health advocates of adding to the pollution problem in Memphis, Tennessee, by using natural gas turbines in its new data center, and doing so without a permit.
The company said it opened the data center in June in a former Electrolux factory, shortly after announcing it had raised $6 billion in a $24 billion valuation. In one post on X last month, Musk boasted that xAI had begun training its AI models at the facility using 100,000 by Nvidia H100 Processors.
The Southern Environmental Law Center sent a letter this week to the Department of Health in Shelby County, where Memphis is located, and to a regional office of the Environmental Protection Agency on behalf of several local groups, asking regulators to investigate xAI for not permitted use of turbines and the pollution they create.
The letter notes that xAI “has installed at least 18 gas turbines over the past several months (with possibly more on the way).”
The company uses the turbines to power the facility, but its long-term plan is to use power from the local utility, Memphis Light, Gas and Water, and the Tennessee Valley Authority.
MLGW told CNBC that it began providing 50 megawatts of power to xAI in early August. However, the xAI facility requires an additional 100 megawatts. The utility has installed more circuit breakers and begun making improvements to transmission lines in the area to prepare for the additional power consumption from xAI, as well.
Musk, who is also its CEO Tesla and SpaceX, and owner of social media company X, launched xAI in 2023 to develop large language models and artificial intelligence products that aim to rival those of Google, Microsoft and OpenAI. The company’s initial product is a chatbot called Grok, billed as a politically incorrect alternative to OpenAI’s ChatGPT. AI models generally require huge amounts of energy to train and process data.
“This plant requires a tremendous amount of electricity,” supporters wrote in the letter.
Some of the 18 turbines are visible from the road around the property and, according to the advocates’ letter, emit air pollutants called nitrogen oxides (NOx) that add to a long-standing smog problem in the area. Shelby County received an “F” grade from the American Lung Association for its smog.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention websiteeven low levels of nitrogen oxides in the air can irritate a person’s eyes, nose, throat and lungs, causing coughing, shortness of breath, fatigue and nausea. Inhaling high levels of nitrogen oxides can cause “rapid burning, spasms and swelling of tissues in the throat and upper respiratory tract” and other serious health problems, the agency says.
Businesses in Tennessee are typically required to obtain permits to operate the types of turbines used by xAI. Permits will specify the permitted concentration of emissions and specify performance requirements for engines.
“Significant effects on health and the environment”
A permit would also require air quality testing to ensure users aren’t polluting more than they planned into the area due to issues such as poor engine maintenance.
“The general concern remains that there has been very little transparency and opportunity for public input on the xAI project,” Amanda Garcia, senior attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center’s Tennessee office, told CNBC. The added concern, he said, is that it “already has significant health and environmental impacts on the surrounding community.”
The groups wrote in the letter that the xAI turbines already in place have the capacity to emit about 130 tons of nitrogen oxides annually, which would rank them as the county’s ninth-largest polluter. Their combined capacity could power around 50,000 homes.
Musk-led companies have a history of building facilities or operating high-emissions equipment without first obtaining permits.
Musk’s tunneling venture, The Boring Co., a fine was also imposed by Texas environmental regulators over a similar issue — the discharge of sewage into the Colorado River in Bastrop, Texas, without applying for permits or installing proper pollution controls.
Tesla was reported by a California air pollution regulator in 2021 for installing and modifying paint shop equipment that emits hazardous air pollutants, without a permit and reviews as required by the Clean Air Act.
The Shelby County Health Department and the EPA regional office covering Memphis did not respond to a request for comment. Neither does xAI.
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