--- title: "NAACP Sues Elon Over His Noxious AI Data Center" description: "The nation's oldest civil rights organization is suing Elon Musk's xAI company for allegedly violating the Clean Air Act." date: "2026-04-16" modified: "2026-04-16" authors: - name: "Joe Wilkins" job_title: "Correspondent" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jwilkins" url: "https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/naacp-sues-xai-elon-musk-jpg" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" - "Elon Musk" - "Environment" - "Future Society" - "Pollution" - "Science & Energy" - "The Industrialists" - "xAI" --- # NAACP Sues Elon Over His Noxious AI Data Center ![A digitally altered image of Elon Musk with a red overlay, wearing a red hat that reads "TRUMP WAS RIGHT ABOUT EVERYTHING." He is posed with his hands together in front of a background featuring the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) emblem.]() Elon Musk may have [yet another day]() in court, at least if the NAACP has anything to say about it. The oldest civil rights organization in the United States has named Elon Musk's AI company, xAI, in a new lawsuit, alleging that the turbines powering its "Colossus" data center violate the [Clean Air Act]() of 1970. For months, xAI has used 27 unpermitted gas turbines — each about the size of a bus — to power the data center used to run the chatbot Grok. The practice has had horrible consequences for the Black, working class neighborhood where the turbines are located, whose residents are [stuck breathing]() xAI's noxious exhaust. According [to the *Guardian*](), the Mississippi lawsuit seeks to force xAI to stop using the turbines without permits, plus civil penalties to cover legal fees. On top of [spewing nitrogen dioxide](), a gas that causes irreversible respiratory damage over time, the turbines [emit a horrendous sound]() that's made life miserable for locals. "All too often, big corporations like xAI treat our communities and families like obstacles to be pushed aside," president and CEO of the NAACP Derrick Johnson told the *Guardian*. "We cannot afford to normalize this kind of environmental injustice — where billion-dollar companies set up polluting operations in Black neighborhoods without any permits and think they'll get away with it because the people don't have the power to fight back." In response, xAI avoided mentioning whether it plans to stop spewing toxic fumes into the surrounding neighborhood. "We take our commitment to the community and environment seriously," a spokesperson told the *Guardian*. "The temporary power generation units are operating in compliance with all applicable laws." **More on Musk:** *[Elon Musk Says He Could Definitely Build a Public Transit System Better Than Anything In China If He Tried]()* ## Author At Futurism, I focus on the intersection of technology and power — examining the economics, history, and politics behind today’s dystopian headlines. As a writer, I’m interested in topics ranging from AI’s impact on labor to startups nobody asked for. My prior work includes bylines in Jacobin, Verso, and Blue Labyrinths. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Forbes, The Guardian, MIT Technology Review, Time, The Nation, Mother Jones, The Verge, and Wired. I grew up in Michigan, attending Central Michigan University as well as Ball State University, where I earned a master of music. I now live in Brooklyn with my girlfriend and our cat Ziti. On weekends, you can find me hunched over a cold pint arguing geopolitics with the other transplants. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()