The Trump administration is pushing back against actions to address the environmental impact of data centers as it uses AI to beef up its war machine.Late Monday (June 15) night, the Department of Justice intervened in a Mississippi federal court case, urging the court to dismiss the lawsuit in a memo from associate attorney general Stanley Woodward, Jr. The lawsuit was brought forth by the NAACP. It argues that the presence of unpermitted gas-powered turbines operated by xAI and its subsidiary, MZX Tech, in Southaven, Mississippi disproportionately pollute Black neighborhoods and violate the Clean Air Act.
Mashable Light Speed
You May Also Like
In the notice, the Justice Department argued that the lawsuit is a national security threat because it "seeks to shut off the power supply for artificial-intelligence innovation that supports the Department of War’s military operations," the New York Times reported. It's not the NAACP's first time suing over the widespread environmental concerns prompted by expansive data center investment. In January, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ruled that xAI's Colossus methane gas turbines in Memphis, Tennessee could not skirt air regulation requirements. It was considered a victory for the NAACP, which filed a lawsuit over the turbines' potentially cancerous nitrogen oxide emissions.
