Despite Protests, Elon Musk Secures Air Permit for xAI

A section health section successful Memphis has granted Elon Musk’s xAI information halfway an aerial licence to proceed operating nan state turbines that powerfulness nan company’s Grok chatbot. The licence comes amid wide organization guidance and a looming suit alleging nan institution violated nan Clean Air Act.

The Shelby County Health Department released an air permit for nan xAI task Wednesday, aft receiving hundreds of nationalist comments. The news was first reported by nan Daily Memphian.

In June, nan Memphis Chamber of Commerce announced that xAI had chosen a tract successful Memphis to build its caller supercomputer. The company’s website boasts that it was capable to build nan supercomputer, Colossus, successful conscionable 122 days. That velocity was owed successful portion to nan mobile state turbines nan institution quickly began installing astatine nan campus, nan tract of a erstwhile manufacturing facility.

Colossus allowed xAI to quickly drawback up to rivals OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic successful building cutting-edge artificial intelligence. It was built utilizing 100,000 Nvidia H100 GPUs, making it apt nan world’s largest supercomputer.

xAI’s Memphis field is located successful a predominantly Black organization known arsenic Boxtown which has been historically burdened pinch business projects that origin pollution. Gas turbines for illustration nan ones xAI is utilizing successful Memphis tin beryllium a important root of harmful emissions, for illustration nitrogen oxides, which create smog. Memphis already has some of nan highest kid asthma rates successful Tennessee. Since xAI began moving its turbines, residents person many times met and rallied against nan project.

“I americium horrified but not surprised,” says KeShaun Pearson, nan leader of Memphis Community Against Pollution. “The flagrant usurpation of nan Clean Air Act and nan disregard for our quality correct to cleanable air, by xAI’s burning of forbidden methane turbines, has been stamped arsenic permissible by nan Shelby County Health Department. Over 1,000 group submitted nationalist comments demanding protection and sewage passed complete for a billionaire’s eager experiment.”

Under nan Clean Air Act, “major” sources of emissions—like a cluster of state turbines—need a permit, known arsenic a Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) permit. However, Shelby County Health Department officials told section reporters successful August that this wasn’t basal for xAI since its turbines weren’t designed to beryllium permanent. Amid mounting section opposition, xAI yet applied for a licence pinch nan Shelby County Health Department successful January, months aft it first began moving nan turbines.

Last month, nan NAACP and nan Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) announced that they intended to writer xAI for allegedly violating nan Clean Air Act.

“The determination to springiness xAI an aerial licence for its polluting state turbines flies successful nan look of nan hundreds of Memphians who said retired against nan company’s licence request,” said SELC elder lawyer Amanda Garcia successful a property release. “Instead of confronting long-standing aerial contamination problems successful South Memphis, nan Shelby County Health Department is turning a unsighted oculus to evident Clean Air Act violations successful bid to let different polluter to group up shop successful this already-overburdened organization without due protections.”