DOJ Tells Court xAI Powers Secret Military Missions, Pleads to Dismiss NAACP Pollution Suit

In the NAACP lawsuit, the US Justice Department, xAI and the state of Mississippi have asked the court to throw out the case, arguing that Grok is critical to national security, while petitioners say the unpermitted gas turbines at Colossus 2 are a public health hazard.

Gas turbines powering a data center in the US have landed at the center of a national security argument. The Department of Justice (DOJ), together with xAI and the state of Mississippi, has asked the court to dismiss a lawsuit that the NAACP filed in April. The government's case rests on a striking claim: xAI's AI model Grok has become a backbone of the country's most sensitive military operations, so shutting it down would harm the national interest.

What the lawsuit alleges
The NAACP says xAI is not complying with the Clean Air Act and is endangering public health by running unpermitted natural gas turbines at the site of its second data center. That facility sits in Southaven, Mississippi, and has been dubbed Colossus 2. In May, the NAACP also filed a request for a preliminary injunction to halt the turbines, arguing that their continued use without a permit "increases risks of asthma attacks and heart disease" in communities that already carry a heavy pollution burden.

xAI and the DOJ did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The government's national security pitch
According to the DOJ memorandum, there are only four artificial intelligence models, Grok among them, that "support mission-critical operations across Secret and Top-Secret classified networks." A separate declaration filed by Cameron Stanley, the chief digital and artificial intelligence officer at the Department of Defense, lays out how the military leans on Grok's Gov model to "support vital national security missions." That use includes deploying the model as part of recent strikes against Iran. Forcing xAI to stop running the gas turbines that power Colossus 2, Stanley says, "directly threatens ongoing national security interests."

How the dispute began in Memphis
xAI, which is part of SpaceX, shot to national notoriety in 2024 when residents of southwest Memphis began sounding the alarm that the company had started running unpermitted gas turbines at its first data center site. The Memphis region records some of the highest asthma rates in the country, and residents feared added pollution from the unpermitted turbines. State agencies in both Tennessee and Mississippi have claimed the company has a year to run the turbines without clean air permits, a position the NAACP argues is not consistent with the Environmental Protection Agency's regulations.

From 27 turbines to 57
The NAACP's original lawsuit identified 27 turbines operating without a permit at the Southaven site. But emails between xAI and state regulators obtained by the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC), a partner in the NAACP lawsuit, show that as of mid-May there were 57 turbines running without permits at the Colossus 2 site. Many of those turbines, the emails indicate, were added weeks after the NAACP filed its lawsuit.

According to the SELC, the jump in Colossus 2's turbines from 27 to 57 means the site has seen a 111 percent increase in nitrogen oxide emissions, an 83 percent increase in PM2.5 emissions, and an 88 percent increase in formaldehyde emissions since April.

What this means for you
• For local residents: Unpermitted turbines around Southaven and Memphis are adding pollutants like nitrogen oxide and PM2.5, which can raise the risk of asthma attacks and heart disease.
• For AI and tech watchers: The case could shape how US data centers balance environmental rules against national security claims.

Questions & Answers

1. What is the DOJ asking the court to do?
The DOJ, along with xAI and the state of Mississippi, has asked the court to dismiss the lawsuit the NAACP filed in April.

2. Why is Grok called important for national security?
The DOJ says only four AI models support critical operations across Secret and Top-Secret networks, and Grok is one of them; the military has relied on its Gov model for missions, including recent strikes against Iran.

3. How many turbines are now running without permits at Colossus 2?
The original lawsuit identified 27, but emails show the number had grown to 57 unpermitted turbines as of mid-May.

4. How much has pollution increased?
According to the SELC, the site has seen a 111 percent rise in nitrogen oxide, an 83 percent rise in PM2.5, and an 88 percent rise in formaldehyde emissions since April.

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