SpaceX assist from DOJ in effort to toss NAACP air pollution lawsuit

With SpaceXElon Musk’s company is getting help from the Justice Department, which is asking a federal court in Mississippi to dismiss a lawsuit filed against the company by the NAACP as its shares soared through its first three days of trading.

The lawsuit was filed in April by the NAACP, which alleged that Musk’s artificial intelligence laboratory xAI, now owned by SpaceX, violated the federal Clean Air Act by using dozens of methane gas-burning turbines to power AI data centers without proper permits or pollution controls. Turbines emit smoke-forming pollutants and particulate matter that can lead to increased health risks and an unpleasant odor.

The NAACP more recently asked the court to issue an injunction stopping xAI from using the turbines until a judge rules.

SpaceX’s Colossus 1 and 2 data centers in and around Memphis, Tennessee, and the power plants attached to those facilities, have faced protests for more than a year over issues such as air pollution, electricity and water consumption, and noise around the facilities.

In a motion filed by the Justice Department on June 15, department lawyers accused the NAACP of threatening “American national, economic, and energy security by attempting to shut down the power supply for artificial intelligence innovations that support the War Department’s military operations.”

Before merging with SpaceX in February, xAI developed the Grok AI model and chatbot to compete with OpenAI, Anthropic, and Anthropic. Google.

Cameron Stanley, who manages the Defense Department’s artificial intelligence, said in the Justice Department filing that Grok’s continued availability “is a matter of very significant national security.”

The Justice Department said that during the Iran war, the military version of xAI’s Grok “enabled U.S. forces to deploy more than 2,000 munitions to 2,000 different targets within 96 hours, a testament to the greatly increased operational efficiency enabled by the Grok Gov Model.”

Earth Justice, one of the law firms representing the NAACP, said in a statement emailed to CNBC: “The DOJ wants to give itself veto power over citizens’ cases, an important legal tool that has been used to protect communities from illegal pollution for more than 50 years.”

Southern Environmental Law Center, one of the lawyers of the case, stated that the Ministry of Justice’s request for intervention was “grab big power” by the Trump administration. And Abre’Conner“At a time when the ultra-rich are protected and supported by some government agencies, it is important that polluting industries do not benefit at the expense of the health of Black communities,” the NAACP Director of Environmental and Climate Justice said via email.

SpaceX did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Residents who live near the xAI facility in Southaven, Mississippi, just outside of Memphis, filed a separate class-action lawsuit earlier this month, saying the company’s power plant subjects them to “nearly constant noise, vibration and other disturbing levels of harm.”

SpaceX made its long-awaited Nasdaq debut on Friday, pushing its market cap past $2 trillion. The stock continued its recovery this week, surpassing the $2.8 trillion valuation on Tuesday. Amazon.

While xAI data centers are being built to fuel Musk’s ambitions for artificial intelligence, SpaceX is now leasing its computing power to Anthropic and Google.

In May, Gallup released survey results revealing that seven in 10 Americans oppose building data centers for AI in their local area; Almost half of them, 48%, have artificial intelligence. He strongly objected.

WRISTWATCH: ‘Hope and prayer’ causes rise in SpaceX