Judge Rejects xAI Motion, Letting NAACP Lawsuit Over Colossus Data Center Air Pollution Proceed

What happened

According to TechCrunch, a federal judge denied xAI's motion to dismiss a lawsuit brought by the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People). xAI is an artificial intelligence company owned by SpaceX. The suit alleges that xAI operated gas turbines powering the Colossus data center outside Memphis without the required permits.

TechCrunch notes that the Southern Environmental Law Center filed the suit on behalf of the NAACP. The center says xAI installed and operated at least 35 combustion turbines and other air pollution sources at the Colossus site without ever obtaining the required pre-construction or operating air permits, and accuses xAI of violating the U.S. Clean Air Act. These are the plaintiffs' claims, not the court's final findings.

The dispute and the judge's reasoning

According to TechCrunch, xAI argued that the turbines are "mobile" equipment and therefore not subject to permitting rules, and also argued that the plaintiffs lack standing to sue. In her ruling, Judge Debra M. Brown made three points. First, the plaintiffs have statutory standing under the Clean Air Act, meaning they are legally entitled to bring this suit. Second, under Mississippi's state implementation plan (the state's plan for carrying out air quality rules), the turbines are not "mobile sources" (pollution sources that move around and can be exempt from these permits). Third, the citizen suit provision, which lets private parties sue violators themselves, does not violate Article II of the U.S. Constitution (the article governing executive power) or the private nondelegation doctrine (the principle that government power may not be handed to private parties). The plaintiffs' claims will therefore proceed.

What each side said

According to TechCrunch, on xAI's claim that citizen suits are unconstitutional, the judge said the plaintiffs in a citizen suit sue in their own names to redress their own injuries, so they are not exercising the federal government's executive power.

TechCrunch also reports that Abre' Connor, the NAACP's environmental and climate justice director, said the courts have repeatedly rejected attempts by xAI and the U.S. Department of Justice to dismiss the case, and stressed that xAI cannot run gas turbines without the required permits. The report says a similar motion to dismiss filed by the Justice Department was denied earlier this month.

The wider context: backlash against data centers

According to TechCrunch, the case comes as public sentiment appears to have turned sharply against data centers. New York recently passed a moratorium on new data centers, and other states and localities are weighing similar measures. The report also says Amazon and Microsoft have pledged to stop using non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) when dealing with government agencies. The backlash could also be a significant factor in the upcoming U.S. midterm elections.

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