Justice Department backs xAI in NAACP lawsuit over data center pollution

Article excerpt

The Department of Justice filed a brief supporting xAI's motion to dismiss a lawsuit by the NAACP over pollution from the company's data center in Memphis, Tennessee. The civil rights organization alleged that the facility would disproportionately harm the predominantly Black neighborhood where it's located. The DOJ's intervention suggests the federal government views the case as having broader implications for AI infrastructure development, though the brief's specific arguments weren't detailed in coverage. The NAACP maintains that xAI failed to adequately address environmental justice concerns during the permitting process. The lawsuit represents a collision between competing federal priorities: advancing AI capability versus protecting minority communities from industrial pollution.