Musk's xAI hit with class action over power plant's 'inescapable' noise (original) (raw)

Elon Musk's xAI hit with class action over data centre power plants causing 'inescapable' noise

Wed 10 Jun 2026 at 8:23am

A fenced industrial site features metal pies and tubes that criss-cross in front of a warehouse.

Colossus 1is one of three xAI data centres along the border of Mississippi and Tennessee. (Reuters: Karen Pulfer Focht)

In short:

US residents have filed a lawsuit against Elon Musk's xAI and SpaceX, saying a power plant fuelling nearby data centres is blasting "omnipresent and inescapable" noise.

The plaintiffs are seeking damages for alleged emotional distress, reduced property values and other harms.

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People has filed a lawsuit against xAI over the plant and centres.

Residents in the US state of Mississippi are suing Elon Musk's xAI and SpaceX, saying a power plant fuelling nearby data centres is blasting "omnipresent and inescapable" noise, eroding their health and home values.

The lawsuit, made public in a federal court on Tuesday, local time, alleges Mr Musk's companies negligently failed to curb the disturbance and created a public nuisance through excessive and offensive noise.

Three residents filed the class action case on behalf of an estimated 10,000 people.

"The artificial intelligence (AI) boom is wreaking havoc on communities across the United States" by subjecting thousands of residents to near-constant noise and vibrations, the lawsuit says.

The plaintiffs are seeking damages for alleged emotional distress, reduced property values and other harms, as well as an unspecified amount in profits.

Metal structures rise form the ground in front of a warehouse.

Colossus 1 is xAI's AI training supercomputer. (Reuters: Karen Pulfer Focht)

xAI and SpaceX did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment.

xAI subsidiary MZX Tech was also named as a defendant. Mr Musk is not a defendant.

A lawyer for the plaintiffs, Robert Wiygul, said: "Our homes are supposed to be a sanctuary for us against the world."

"When they are invaded by noise 24 hours a day, it takes that fundamental peace of a good and decent life away from us,"

he said.

xAI invested more than US20billion(US20 billion (US20billion(20.4 billion) to build the plant at Southaven with the backing of Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves.

Gas-fired turbines at Southaven powered data centres in and around Southaven, the lawsuit said.

In April, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) also sued xAI over the plant and centres, accusing the company of violating US environmental rules.

The US Justice Department signalled in a court filing last month it might intervene in the NAACP case, saying the dispute raised legal and policy questions about the government's role in AI infrastructure.

Reuters