NAACP planning to sue Musk AI company over supercomputer pollution
The NAACP and an environmental group are planning to sue Elon Musk's artificial intelligence company xAI, amid concerns that its supercomputer facility is prompting air pollution in Memphis, the groups announced Tuesday.
The Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC), on behalf of the NAACP, sent a letter to xAI and its affiliates on Tuesday notifying the company of their intent to sue over its alleged continued use of methane gas turbines in southwest Memphis, SELC attorney Patrick Anderson told reporters Tuesday.
The facility, which opened in June of last year, is located near predominantly Black communities in Memphis, according to the NAACP.
The turbines, Anderson said, have pumped hazardous materials into the air for the past year and are in violation of the Clean Air Act.
'The law is abundantly clear. XAI needed to get an air permit before installing and operating any of the turbines at their facility,' Anderson said during the Tuesday press conference. 'Over the last year, these turbines have pumped out pollution that threatens the health of Memphis families.'
Some local officials claimed that an exemption allowed xAI to operate the turbines for up to 364 days without a permit, but Anderson argued that there is no such exemption for turbines and that no official has been able to point to a specific exemption.
'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. We will not allow xAI to get away with this,' said NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson.
The NAACP pointed to studies showing Boxtown, the neighborhood closest to the xAI data center, faces a cancer risk four times the national average.
A spokesperson for xAI said the company's temporary power generation units are 'operating in compliance with all applicable laws' in response to the announcement.
'We take our commitment to the community and environment seriously,' the spokesperson added.
xAI has said the turbines will have technology to reduce emissions and it is improving the city's economy by investing billions of dollars into the supercomputer facility, the Associated Press reported.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
TechCrunch
23 minutes ago
- TechCrunch
Leak reveals Grok might soon edit your spreadsheets
Leaked code suggests xAI is developing an advanced file editor for Grok with spreadsheet support, signaling the company's push to compete with OpenAI, Google, and Microsoft by embedding AI copilots into productivity tools. 'You can talk to Grok and ask it to assist you at the same time you're editing the files!' writes reverse engineer Nima Owji, who leaked the finding. BREAKING: xAI is working on an advanced FILE EDITOR for GROK! It even supports SPREADSHEETS! You can talk to Grok and ask it to assist you at the same time you're editing the files! — Nima Owji (@nima_owji) June 22, 2025 TechCrunch has reached out to xAI to confirm the findings and learn more. xAI hasn't explicitly detailed its strategy for pursuing interactive, multimodal AI workspaces, but it has dropped a series of announcements that point to how the company is thinking about these tools. In April 2025, xAI launched Grok Studio, a split-screen workspace that lets users collaborate with Grok on generating documents, code, reports, and browser games. It also launched the ability to create Workspaces that let you organize files and conversations in a single place. While OpenAI and Microsoft have similar tools, Google's Gemini Workspace for Sheets, Docs, and Gmail appears to be the most similar to what xAI is reportedly building. Google's tools can edit Docs and Sheets and allow you to chat with Gemini while looking at or editing documents. The difference is that Gemini Workspace only works within Google's own ecosystem. It's not clear what types of files xAI's editor might support aside from spreadsheets, or whether xAI plans to build a full productivity suite that could compete with Google Workspace or Microsoft 365. If Owji's findings are true, the advanced editor would be a step towards Elon Musk's ambitions to turn X into an 'everything app' that includes docs, chat, payments, and social media.
Forbes
38 minutes ago
- Forbes
Starving The Watchdog—Budget Cuts To IRS-CI Undercut Crime Fighting
WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 13: A sign for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is seen outside its ... More building on February 13, 2025 in Washington, DC. Members of Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) arrived at the Internal Revenue Service to begin examining the agency's operations. (Photo by) The Department of Government Efficiency's proposal to cut up to 25% of IRS staffing earlier this year is a textbook case of false economy. Among the casualties in the fiscal pruning is the IRS Criminal Investigation division—one of the few federal agency divisions that, rather than costing money, regularly recovers more money than it spends. In 2024 alone, CI helped claw back $9.1 billion in fraudulent proceeds—with a budget of less than $800 million. Raw numbers only tell part of the story, as IRS-CI plays a central role in dismantling financial networks behind everything from international drug trafficking and terrorism to pandemic fraud and offshore tax shelters. Workforce and budget cuts don't just shrink the IRS ranks, they weaken law enforcement, threaten ongoing tax compliance, and ultimately make it easier for the wealthiest criminals to operate with impunity. Efficiency, it turns out, isn't just about firing employees. High ROI Law Enforcement Taken as a whole, IRS-CI is one of the federal government's most cost-effective investments. According to a recent Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) report, CI's budget grew to $779 million by 2023, a modest increase by the standards of Washington. In return, taxpayers received a 90% conviction rate, over 2,600 investigations initiated, more than $1.2 billion in asset seizures, $1.7 billion in restitution, and $9 billion in uncovered fraud. The numbers speak for themselves: CI returns many multiples of its cost to the Treasury, even before accounting for intangible returns like any effects it may have on deterrence. The policy logic here should be self-evident—an agency that pulls in more than it costs should be the last place to target when looking for cost-saving cuts. All the same, CI now finds itself on the chopping block—not because it underperforms but, apparently, because its ongoing success isn't politically expedient. IRS-CI Reach IRS Criminal Investigation is deeply embedded in some of the current administration's highest priorities. CI agents don't merely pore over tax returns, looking for inappropriate business expense deductions, they infiltrate cartels, track terror financing, and expose shell companies laundering money through global financial networks for all manner of ills. In 2023, CI helped root out fentanyl trafficking networks linked to the Sinaloa cartel and Chinese money laundering firms. These aren't abstract wins that IRS-CI happened to play some bit part in—they're real-world enforcement actions with direct implications for both safety and national security. Despite playing a central role in bipartisan enforcement priorities, from counter-narcotics and sanctions evasion to terrorism, CI is now facing a hiring freeze and looming cuts. Unless the pursued efficiency is on behalf of criminal elements, the proposed reductions risk contravening the administration's policy priorities. IRS-CI As Signal The IRS doesn't audit every return and, even when artificial intelligence reaches its zenith, it likely never will. What holds the tax system together isn't the omnipotence of the auditor, but the shadow of the audit—the perception that cheating is risky and noncompliance has dire consequences. Ultimately however, paying taxes is more than a legal obligation, it's a form of social signaling. People comply not just to avoid known penalties, but to affirm their identity as law-abiding citizens in good standing. That behavior is heavily conditioned, if in an attenuated sense, on the visible strength of enforcement. Folks pay their taxes so long as they believe others are paying their fair share and that not doing so would be socially frowned upon. Remove any of those premises and the argument for being honest on your returns falls apart. With every staffing and funding cut, the signal begins to fade. This isn't just a shift in bureaucratic priorities—it's the start of a feedback loop that potentially ends in compliance collapse. As enforcement wanes, high- Outlook Slashing IRS-CI resources might make for a cleaner budget line in 2026, but it's the epitome of short-term thinking. The coming rollback risks coming just as enforcement was regaining traction after years of cuts. In recent years, CI began targeting high-income tax evaders more aggressively, including a campaign in 2024 that brought in $1 billion from 1,600 millionaires. These are complex cases that require skilled agents, time, and resources. Scaling back now sinks not only future collections, but past expenditures made to spool up investigative momentum. The same administration calling for tougher action on drug cartels and foreign adversaries is proposing cuts to the unit that leads financial investigations into those bad actors. This isn't just fiscal negligence—it's reckless incoherence.
WIRED
an hour ago
- WIRED
Elon Musk's Lawyers Claim He 'Does Not Use a Computer'
Caroline Haskins Kate Knibbs Will Knight Jun 23, 2025 1:24 PM The claim appeared in a court filing related to Elon Musk's ongoing lawsuit against Sam Altman and OpenAI. The Tesla and xAI owner has posted about his laptop numerous times in the last year. Photograph:Elon Musk's lawyers claimed that he 'does not use a computer' in a Sunday court filing related to his lawsuit against Sam Altman and OpenAI. However, Musk has posted pictures or referred to his laptop on X several times in recent months, and public evidence suggests that he owns and appears to use at least one computer. Musk and his artificial intelligence startup xAI sued OpenAI in February 2024, alleging the company committed breach of contract by abandoning its founding agreement to develop AI 'for the benefit of humanity,' choosing instead 'to maximize profits for Microsoft.' The Sunday court filing was submitted in opposition to a Friday filing from OpenAI, which accused Musk and xAI of failing to fully comply with the discovery process. OpenAI alleges that Musk's counsel does not plan to collect any documents from him. In this weekend's filing, Musk's lawyers claim that they told OpenAI on June 14 that they were 'conducting searches of Mr. Musk's mobile phone, having searched his emails, and that Mr. Musk does not use a computer.' Musk and xAI Corp's lawyers did not immediately respond to requests for comment. In the filing, Musk's legal team disputed claims that it was resisting discovery efforts. Multiple employees at X tell WIRED that while Musk primarily works from his mobile phone, he has occasionally been seen using a laptop. Musk has also made public statements about computers he appears to own in the recent past. In December 2024, Musk posted a picture of a laptop on X with a caption that begins, 'This is a pic of my laptop.' The post, made in reply to a 15-minute stream of a game from the Diablo video game series, claims that he was 'testing Starlink streaming while in flight,' suggesting that he was possibly using the laptop for professional purposes. Musk has streamed more than 10 times since August 2024, showing what appears to be the desktop layout of the game, usually saying that he is doing so to test Starlink's streaming capacity. Musk has also made more recent references to what appears to be the same laptop. In May 2025, Musk said on X that he is 'Still using my ancient PC laptop with the @DOGE sticker made long ago by a fan.' The post was in reply to a user who asked what his gaming set-up is and whether it's a 'full gaming PC.' That user had been replying to a different 15-minute stream of Diablo. The picture Musk posted in reply shows a black laptop with AERO branding, a style of computer that typically runs Windows and is popular with gamers, with a sticker of a dollar bill edited in homage to the memecoin 'Doge.' (The memecoin later appears to have inspired the name of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency.) Musk says in the same post that the laptop is three years old, and that the sticker was given to him by a man in Germany. Earlier, on February 25, 2024, Musk claimed in a post on X that he had 'just bought a new PC laptop,' but said that he was unable to use it without creating a Microsoft account, which he didn't want to do. He implied that he did not want to allow the company's AI to get access to his computer. (Windows 11, the most recent Microsoft operating system, has several AI-powered features for certain devices. At least one of these features that was announced in early 2024 learns from a user's activity history.) The next day, he replied to an X post from Microsoft chairman and CEO Satya Nadella reiterating his complaint from the previous day. 'Satya, I don't mean to be a pest, but please allow people setting up a new Windows PC to skip creating a Microsoft account,' Musk said. In November 2022, during his tumultuous takeover of Twitter (now known as X), the mogul posted a picture of what appears to be a computer screen showing the interface of Mastodon, a rival federated social network. Musk later deleted the post. In a response to a question about his choice of computer in July 2021, Musk wrote on X that he uses a 'PC desktop with latest graphics card, although I have a Mac too. Gigabyte laptop.' Musk's office in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building appeared to contain a gaming PC. A photo of the PC is partially visible in a March video stream of the All-In Podcast, during which venture capitalist and podcast cohost David Friedberg showed photos he took during a visit to Washington, DC. OpenAI declined to comment, and referred WIRED to its own filings related to the ongoing lawsuit.
