August 29, 2024 – Elon Musk’s AI venture, xAI, has found itself at the center of controversy amidst criticisms levied by environmental and health advocates. The root of the issue lies in the company’s alleged operation of gas turbines within its data centers in Memphis, Tennessee, without acquiring the necessary permits, subsequently contributing to air pollution in the area.
A letter dispatched by the Southern Environmental Law Center to the Environmental Protection Agency and health departments overseeing the Shelby County locale, where the data centers are situated, highlights a pressing concern: “Despite the installation of nearly 20 gas turbines, totaling approximately 100 megawatts of capacity – sufficient to power roughly 50,000 households – xAI appears to have yet to secure any air quality permits for these turbines.”
The environmental advocacy group urges the county health department to verify whether xAI is indeed operating these turbines without the requisite air permits and to take enforcement actions accordingly. They emphasize that gas turbines emit significant volumes of gases, exacerbating the already suboptimal air quality in Memphis.
Amidst these criticisms, Musk, at the end of last month, boasted about the commencement of training xAI’s Grok AI model using a batch of powerful NVIDIA H100 chips, lauding the Tennessee-based data centers as “the world’s most potent AI training cluster.” He further added that this facility would yield the most advanced AI by December this year.
Founded by Musk last year, xAI has soared to a valuation exceeding $24 billion in May 2024, positioning itself as a formidable competitor against the likes of OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic. Just this month, the company unveiled its Grok 2 series of language models, further solidifying its position in the AI landscape. However, the current controversy surrounding its environmental practices threatens to overshadow these achievements and underscores the need for responsible and sustainable technology development.