Within a week, Elon Musk's SpaceXAI will see one of its major litigation hurdles as the company and its affiliate, MZX Tech LLC, head to federal court.
The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi Aug. 24 will have a preliminary injunction hearing on alleged Clean Air Act violations from SpaceXAI at its Southaven, Mississippi power plant.
In May, the NAACP and the Mississippi State Conference of the NAACP filed the initial injunction. In June, the organizations amended the filing after discovery found nearly 30 more turbines at the SpaceXAI power plant, located at 2875 Stanton Road in Southaven, since the initial filing. The Southern Environmental Law Center filed the lawsuit on behalf of the NAACP and State Conference of the NAACP.
Grok could cease to function
The Aug. 24 hearing could determine if the SpaceXAI power plant is shut down — and if so, largely if SpaceXAI (xAI rebranded to SpaceXAI in July) can continue operating.
"An abrupt loss of power from Stanton Road would inflict catastrophic harms on Defendants and hundreds of millions of users worldwide: Grok would largely cease to function, and other cutting-edge AI services would be significantly disrupted...," according to court documents filed on behalf of SpaceXAI.
Grok is the main artificial intelligence chatbot that SpaceXAI's data centers are powering. The chatbot is integrated within the social platform, X. Musk also owns X. In March 2025, xAI merged with X. Both entities are now subsidiaries under SpaceX.
DOJ says Grok essential to national security in Iran War
On June 15, the Department of Justice filed a motion for intervention and dismissal of the case.
The Department of Justice claimed that Grok has been vital to national security and the ongoing Iran War.
Turbines are crux of the issue
The alleged Clean Air Act violations focus on the use of unpermitted natural gas turbines. Following the update to the initial court filing, 57 gas turbines have been active at the Southaven power plant (69 on-site as of July 2026).
Those turbines help power the Colossus 2 data center across state lines at 5420 Tulane Road in Memphis. The Southaven power plant is also expected to help supply power to two more SpaceXAI data centers under construction: Macrohardrr, located at 2400 Stateline Road in Southaven, and "minihard", located at 5414 Tulane Road in Memphis.
According to the lawsuit, the SpaceXAI power plant is capable of producing significantly more emissions than the nearby Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) Combined Cycle Plant and 500% more nitrogen oxide emissions than the Memphis International Airport.
To date, the 60 turbines on the site are unpermitted.
Beginning in August 2025, the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) approved the use of 18 unpermitted turbines at the site. That figure has nearly quadrupled since then.
In August 2025, the MDEQ said temporary turbines used for less than a year do not require permits. The decision mirrored a precedent set by the Shelby County Health Department for unpermitted turbine use at SpaceXAI's first Memphis-area data center, Colossus. That precedent was also heavily criticized.
EPA updates regulations to require permitting, controls
In January, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) updated its Federal Register. Under the updated Clean Air Act, all turbines, whether temporary or permanent, require permitting. With permitting, equipment is required to follow Clean Air Act regulations, which include using Best Available Control Technology (BACT), which helps reduce emissions. The most common form of that emission control technology is Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) systems.
According to email correspondence reviewed by The Commercial Appeal between MDEQ and Arkansas-based engineering firm Trinity Consultants, of those operational turbines, only 14 are equipped with SCR technology.
In March, the MDEQ approved a Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) permit for 41 natural gas turbines at the site. However, those 41 turbines are not currently at the site. On July 30, SpaceXAI announced an agreement order with MDEQ.
According to the agreement order, SpaceXAI will begin removing the temporary turbines by August, with plans to have all temporary turbines removed by July 2027 and the 41 permitted turbines installed.
U.S energy committee member demands environmental data
Additionally, on July 28, U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce Ranking Member Frank Pallone Jr. (D-New Jersey), demanded a list of all turbines at SpaceXAI's Colossus and Colossus 2 data center sites since June 2024, along with ananalysis of the company's infrastructure and environmental impact.
Neil Strebig is a journalist with The Commercial Appeal. He can be reached at neil.strebig@commercialappeal.com, 901-426-0679
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: SpaceXAI hearing to decide future of Southaven plant, could shut down Grok
