Under Trump, DOJ Moves to Intervene in NAACP Lawsuit in Support of Musk’s xAI

The Department of Justice and the state of Mississippi have just moved to intervene in a lawsuit filed by the civil rights group NAACP against xAI, claiming that xAI’s business is a matter of national security.

Back in April, the NAACP filed a lawsuit against Elon Musk’s xAI and subsidiary MZX Tech over the alleged operation of 27 methane gas turbines near Memphis, claiming they were unlawfully operated without an air permit. The gas turbines power the Colossus 2 data center, which itself powers xAI’s chatbot, Grok, aka MechaHitler, also known for its proliferation of nonconsensual sexual deepfakes on X.

Gas turbines are internal combustion engines that rely on natural gas to spin the turbine and generate energy and they have been particularly popular as the driving engine of Silicon Valley’s unprecedented data center buildout effort. The turbines emit smog-forming pollution, fine particulate matter, carbon monoxide and formaldehyde, all of which are “tied to increases in asthma, respiratory diseases, heart problems, and certain cancers,” according to the NAACP. The Memphis region, where the turbines are located, already has some of the worst asthma rates in the nation.

“Our right to clean air is not up for negotiation, especially when companies prove expediency, not people, is their priority,” NAACP director of environmental and climate justice Abre’ Conner said in a press release at the time. In the lawsuit, the NAACP asked the court to declare xAI’s actions as in violation of the Clean Air Act, force it to cease operations at the unpermitted turbines and order the best available control technology, and impose financial penalties.

In the weeks following the filing of the original lawsuit, xAI reportedly continued adding gas turbines. As of mid-May, the number of turbines is up to 57, according to WIRED. The NAACP promptly filed a request for injunctive relief to stop the company from running the turbines until a decision is made on the case.

This week, the Trump administration’s DOJ sided with Musk’s company and asked the court to let it intervene as a plaintiff and then dismiss the lawsuit.

Through its attempts to stop the operation of the unpermitted turbines, the DOJ argues that “the NAACP threatens American national, economic, and energy security by seeking to shut off the power supply for artificial-intelligence innovation that supports the Department of War’s military operations.”

According to the government’s memo submitted in support of xAI, Grok is “one of only four proprietary state-of-the-art AI models” that could support the Pentagon