Elon Musk’s AI company xAI has been running natural gas turbines across two supercomputer sites in the Memphis, Tennessee area without obtaining the federal clean air permits required under the Clean Air Act. The turbines power xAI’s Colossus AI supercomputer cluster, and the company classified the turbines as “mobile” units eligible for a 364-day temporary-use exemption. At the Colossus 1 site in South Memphis, thermal imagery identified over 30 turbines operating as of April 2025. At the Colossus 2 site in Southaven, Mississippi, at least 27 unpermitted gas turbines were running as of January 2026. xAI eventually began applying for permits in January 2026, starting with an initial application covering 15 turbines, later expanding to include an additional 41 units at the Southaven location. One permit for turbines at the Memphis facility was issued in July 2025. The turbines burn natural gas and produce nitrogen oxides, a pollutant linked to respiratory illness and smog formation. Both sites sit near predominantly Black neighborhoods with disproportionately high environmental burdens. In April 2026, a Senate committee highlighted xAI’s turbine operations as part of a broader pattern of data center operators running gas-fired power plants without proper permits.