Musk's xAI, SpaceX face legal action over data center 'nuisance'

Elon Musk’s xAI and SpaceX faced a legal class action on Tuesday. As per the legal charges, both companies have been sued by Mississippi residents who say a power plant fueling nearby data centers is blasting “omnipresent and inescapable” noise that has eroded their health and home ‌values.

The lawsuit made public on Tuesday in federal court in Oxford, Mississippi, claims Musk’s companies negligently failed to curb the disturbance and created a public nuisance through excessive and offensive noise.

Three residents filed the case on behalf of a class estimated at more than 10,000 members.

A lawyer for the plaintiffs, Robert Wiygul, in ‌a statement, said, “Our homes are supposed to be a sanctuary for us against the world," but “when they are invaded by noise 24 hours a day, it takes that fundamental peace of a good and decent life away from us.”

Gas-fired turbines at Southaven power data centers in and around Southaven seriously required legal attention for public facilities.

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

“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 said.

Moreover, the NAACP in April sued xAI over the plant and centers, accusing the company of violating U.S. environmental rules. The lawsuit is pending.

The U.S. Justice Department signaled in a court filing last month it may intervene in the NAACP 

Elon Musk's SpaceX has drawn more than $250 billion of investor demand for what stands to be the largest-ever IPO, said people familiar with the matter on Tuesday, dwarfing the $75 billion the firm is seeking to raise.

Additionally, the lawsuit claimed that xAI invested more than $20 billion to build the plant at Southaven with the backing of Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves.

case, saying the dispute raises legal and policy questions around the government’s role in AI infrastructure.