In a court filing, the administration signaled support for Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company in a lawsuit challenging xAI’s generators at a huge Mississippi data center.
By Hiroko Tabuchi, The New York Times, May 14, 2026
The United States government is preparing for a possible intervention to help defend Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company from a lawsuit that accuses the company of illegally operating gas turbines in Mississippi to power a large data center, court filings showed.
The NAACP sued Mr. Musk’s company, xAI, which powers the Grok chatbot, last month, claiming that the company was operating 27 gas turbines without an air permit in Southaven, Miss. It effectively built a power plant for its Colossus 2 data center, sending pollution into nearby neighborhoods, the NAACP claimed.
The A.I. company, now owned by Mr. Musk’s space venture SpaceX, has consistently said that its turbines are mobile and temporary, and thus exempt from more stringent air permitting. It has also pointed out that gas turbines are a cleaner alternative to other forms of power, like coal or diesel generators.
Now, the Justice Department is preparing for a possible intervention in support of Mr. Musk.
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