A People’s History of the Fight Against xAI

A  clear tension has hung over Memphis since xAI announced the city would be home to its Grok AI.

Proponents of the data center may write this as a win for corporations and big tech, but advocates and organizers tell a different story.

Neither xAI nor the Greater Memphis Chamber, the organization that invited them here, responded to our questions about any of this. (See endnote.) So, we present this, a short history of how the decision has affected the people of Memphis over the last two years. 

In the summer of 2024, the Greater Memphis Chamber announced the “largest capital investment by a new-to-market company” in the city’s history — we would soon be home to xAI’s Colossus 1 Data Center, located at the former Electrolux facility in South Memphis. 

As the public became aware that Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company had set its eyes on Memphis, local leaders and officials praised the project, claiming it would not only change the trajectory of how data centers operate, but also make Memphis an epicenter for technological development.

The chamber said xAI would bring “500 quality, high-paying jobs to Memphis in its initial phase” while also attracting other AI and technology companies.

While this marked a positive shift for top decision-makers, a different reality surfaced for advocacy groups and community members. The decision was immediately condemned by environmental groups for its potential negative environmental impact and the lack of transparency regarding the facility.

Groups such as Memphis Community Against Pollution (MCAP), Protect Our Aquifer (POA), and Young, Gifted & Green (YGG) urged city leaders to have open dialogue with the community. Their voices were consistently ignored. These requests became louder as many took to social media and national news outlets to amplify their dissent and advocate on behalf of Memphis residents.

The fight further shed light on systemic inequities that have plagued the city for decades, and ignited a charge to take a stand against environmental racism. As town halls and protests multiplied, residents made it known they would not be casualties in the story of tech expansion.

While local leaders and executives may seek to control the narrative, community members are writing their own stories of collective action and sheer doggedness.

The Announcement

MCAP was integral in the fight against the Byhalia Pipeline, an initiative that would have placed a “high-pressure crude oil pipeline” through Memphis’ water supply. KeShaun Pearson, executive director of MCAP, attributes this success to persistent people power and a devout opposition to environmental racism.

“The Byhalia Connection Pipeline folks said, ‘We chose y’all because y’all are the path of least resistance,’” Pearson said. “For someone to label your community the least anything is ridiculous. To think we wouldn’t oppose environmental racism and injustice is ridiculous.”

Pearson and MCAP’s advocacy didn’t stop at the fight against the pipeline. This meant having conversations with local elected leaders and officials about mitigating the effects of climate change on overburdened communities, and implementing environmental justice plans.

It was during one of these conversations that Pearson learned about a then-pending announcement of the xAI facility. At the close of their meeting the official told him Musk had plans to bring a data center to Memphis — South Memphis, specifically.

This set off alarm bells for Pearson — who was too close to the recent fight against the Byhalia Pipeline to not think what was coming would have a negative impact on the area.  

Pearson said these decisions reflect the way companies feel about neighborhoods like South Memphis — they don’t matter as much as those in places like Collierville or Lakeland.

“For me and my community, it’s always being in fight mode,” Pearson said. “You’re always having to protect yourself against the invader. You’re always a target for environmentally racist projects. Always having to respond to being a target is tiring.”

When he was notified of Musk’s plan, Pearson launched into action, contacting coalition partners Young, Gifted & Green and Protect Our Aquifer to immediately release a statement of opposition.

“We can’t just let them do some big announcement and make it seem as though this is some big, profitable, beautiful thing that’s going to benefit everyone, because it’s not,” Pearson said.

LaTricea Adams, CEO and founder of Young, Gifted & Green, said they were blindsided by the announcement, and it exemplified the “robbery of democracy.” 

“I recall city council members [and] county commissioners being very upset that they weren’t even briefed in the slightest about this big announcement,” Adams said. “It creates this really slippery slope around who truly runs this city. Is it Ted Townsend with the Chamber of Commerce? Or is it the constituents and the power of the vote?”

National Awareness

Residents and advocates fervently objected  to the decision, which prompted attention from national groups. 

Abre’ Conner, director of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People’s (NAACP) Center for Environmental and Climate Justice, said they received notice of the project through their local branch partners and community members. Conner said local NAACP chapters and environmental groups helped magnify the issue on a national level.

The NAACP, which has historically intervened against industrial polluters, sought to ask questions on behalf of the community who felt their voices weren’t being heard. 

“I realized there were a number of issues,” Conner said. “Transparency being one, but they were also operating these methane gas turbines with no permit, which is required under the federal Clean Air Act.”

The turbines proved to be a long source of controversy for the facility. This prompted the NAACP to make an accountability framework for data centers, and ultimately led to the agency aiming to file a lawsuit against xAI. 

Patrick Anderson, senior attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC), said Memphis was always a priority in the SELC’s efforts to monitor ongoing air quality problems in the South.

Anderson was tasked with looking at new and existing sources of air pollution in the city and ways to reduce emissions. About six months into that work, he found out about xAI, which took him and others by surprise. 

“When we heard xAI was going to build the world’s largest supercomputer in Memphis, I think the first question we had was ‘how are they going to power it?’” Anderson said.

He knew data centers required a large amount of energy, which local municipalities didn’t have the bandwidth to provide. The SELC became concerned with the prospect of xAI using on-site power generation. The law center was notified by community members that the facility was using gas turbines as power sources.

Moreover, the facility was operating those turbines without a permit, and Anderson noted this as one of the main organizing points for the community. The attorney said the Shelby County Health Department (SCHD) got back to them, saying, “They had nothing in writing regarding the gas turbines.”

“At that point we knew they had 14 or 18 of them out there running,” Anderson said. “That’s when we knew there was a problem, because there should’ve been something in writing — there should’ve been a permit, and there wasn’t.”

After this discovery, the SELC sent a letter to the SCHD to investigate the turbine operations. Anderson said the health department asked the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to weigh in.

This was the beginning of a back-and-forth between SELC and the health department. During their communication, xAI applied for an air permit, which meant a public hearing would be conducted by the SCHD as to whether or not xAI would be granted an air permit for their gas turbines.

During the permit consideration process, SELC was able to obtain aerial images of the xAI data center that revealed 35 methane gas turbines in use. The law center said this was “far more than previously known and more than the company submitted applications for.”

“xAI’s decision to install and operate dozens of polluting gas turbines without any permits or public oversight is a clear violation of the Clean Air Act,” Anderson said at the time.

The health department initially said xAI’s temporary turbines didn’t need a permit.

While community organizations were able to garner support from national groups to push against xAI, Pearson said this didn’t reflect the foundational tenets of MCAP and others. His group, for example, was founded as a way to educate the public and advocate — not to go up against corporate giants.

“To police industries is not the goal of our organization,” Pearson said. “The role of government is to police the industry and make sure that industry isn’t harmful to communities and the elected official’s constituents.”

Pearson and other advocates haven’t seen that, though. Instead, he said he saw a continued pattern of officials and institutions aligning themselves with “corporatism,” to the community’s detriment.

Conner said the decision to greenlight a project without the public’s consideration and proper education goes against the core responsibilities of elected officials. “At the end of the day, [when making] the decision for xAI to operate and to come into a community, there has to be some communication with elected officials, government agencies, [and] individuals who will basically grant them permission to do so.”

Advocates and organizers felt the weight of the community’s burdens and took it upon themselves to take action. In June 2025, the SELC sent a letter to xAI notifying the company of their intent to sue over the data center’s permitless gas turbines. The letter was sent on behalf of the NAACP.

This was shortly after the NAACP sent a letter to SCHD and Memphis Light, Gas and Water (MLGW) requesting they cease operations on the facility. SELC also sent a letter to the health department stating they had obtained aerial images that showed xAI had 35 gas turbines.

The Lawsuit

SELC officials sent a 60-day notice of intent to sue to xAI, stating the gas turbines violated federal guidelines, and the project is required to “obtain appropriate air permits before operating its polluting gas turbines.”

xAI’s air permit was granted by the health department in July 2025 to run 15 gas turbines at its data center in South Memphis. Prior to the approval of the air permit, SCHD responded to the SELC’s concerns, claiming the temporary turbines were not pertinent to xAI’s application process for the 15 permanent turbines.

Anderson said during the 60-day notice period, xAI removed all of the unpermitted turbines.

An appeal was formally filed to challenge xAI’s air permit with the Memphis and Shelby County Air Pollution Control Board on behalf of the NAACP and Young, Gifted & Green. SELC’s appeal claims SCHD’s decision violates the Clean Air Act and ignores “hundreds of comments opposing the draft permit.”

The appeal specifically asked the Memphis and Shelby County Air Pollution Control Board to exclude large gas turbines from the nonroad engine emissions standards exemption. The Shelby County Air Pollution Control Board heard arguments on the case in December.  

While the board heard public comment from those who opposed xAI’s operations, residents of Boxtown spoke about the harm of having the facility near a historically disenfranchised and burdened community. This was juxtaposed with comments praising the “positive community impact” of xAI’s investment in the city and local workforce development.

In reflecting on the six-hour hearing, Pearson called the board’s dismissal of the appeal “frustrating.” He saw it as a way for xAI to get away with “poisoning” residents and “breaking the law,” and blamed the board for perpetuating an idea that corporations are above the law.

Because some turbines were removed, Anderson said the board ruled it a “moot issue.” The board said if the turbines returned, the SELC could come back for an answer.

“We think they should have said, ‘If this is wrong we can say so now,’ but they basically kicked the can down the road,” Anderson said. “One thing they’re right about is, if turbines come back to Shelby County like that, unpermitted, they’re not wrong that they’ll be hearing from us again.”

What’s Next?

Months later, Adams still considers the board’s dismissal “egregious,” saying the board’s decision set a troubling precedent for how xAI and other companies proceed in the future.

“[The decision] gives a playbook for other industries to do the same thing,” Adams said. “At what point is our leadership going to prioritize people over profit?”

Tigers Against Pollution (TAP), a grassroots student-led group that has organized anti-xAI protests, said the city’s actions have shown they are unable to hold xAI accountable. The group has consistently called out city leadership for seeing the company’s expansion as “investment, not infiltration.”

“What xAI produces, stands for, and represents on a national level is dangerous for humanity, and our Memphis neighbors are simply just one slice of the larger pie,” TAP said. “A pie that doesn’t just ignore ethical environmental standards, but fuels a hate-filled, disinformational, porn-producing, eye-candy machine. We hope our elected leaders see the danger in this company existing here.”

When the Memphis City Council passed an ordinance that would allow for property tax revenues from AI facilities in Memphis to be used as public funds for projects and financial aid for communities within a five-mile radius of the facility, it was an attempt to ensure that Memphis residents — specifically those in South Memphis — saw benefits from the facility.

The Advisory Board Related to Public Use Funds from AI Properties held their first meeting in March. Pearson, who was elected chairman of the board, said such incentives should be non-negotiable, especially at the price of clean air and water.

He recognized that the financial gain will help put programs in place for residents in the vicinity, but stressed that “money doesn’t matter more than people.”

“This board, this money, isn’t a substitute for the lives of our people — for the harm that has been done and is being done,” Pearson said. “We cannot let dollar signs or ‘economic growth’ dominate our quality of life. We don’t want money in exchange for our lives.”

The fight against xAI has taken a toll on the community, and other cities are watching Memphis as data centers continue to pop up in communities around the country. But Pearson said fighting the fight as a collective “makes change happen.”

This collective mindset has extended across state lines as MCAP and other organizations advocate for Mississippi residents, with xAI’s Southaven facility prompting noise pollution complaints and environmental concerns in recent months.

Organizers stood in firm opposition against the expansion, asking governing bodies to deny the facility an air permit — which was eventually granted anyway by the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) in March. 

Though the battle is far from over, Pearson is confident that the community will prevail. “We’ve taken down the Byhalia Pipeline, Sterilization Services of Tennessee,” he said. “Taking down billion-dollar corporations who live in an extracted ecosystem that feeds off our community — killing us — we’ve seen how we can win. We will win this. I can’t tell you when, but we will.” 

Editor’s note: The Greater Memphis Chamber responded to the Flyer’s interview request with the following:

“Thank you for reaching out to the Greater Memphis Chamber regarding your story on the xAI project.

For questions specifically about xAI’s operations and the project itself, I’d like to direct you to their media contact for the most accurate and comprehensive information:

Additionally, you may find helpful background information in our press releases related to the project, which are available at: https://memphischamber.com/releases/ 

We appreciate your commitment to providing fair and balanced coverage of this important development for our region.”

xAI did not respond to the Flyer’s interview request.

As we neared press deadline, it was announced that xAI’s wastewater recycling plant project had been put on hold indefinitely, adding to concerns. 

While Colossus Water Recycling engineer Mark Carroll told the Daily Memphian in an April 8th interview that a timeline for the project was “just unknown,” xAIMemphis posted the following on X the morning of April 9th:

“xAI is committed to building a state-of-the-art water recycling plant in Memphis. This plant will protect billions of gallons of water each year. 

The team is currently prioritizing other more immediate projects at the site but our plans to build the water plant have not changed.”