Elon Musk's xAI startup is accused of exacerbating the pollution problem in Memphis, Tennessee, through the unauthorized use of turbines that burn natural gas. This was reported by CNBC.
xAI does this to power data centers where large language models are trained. According to Elon Musk, 100 thousand H100 processors from NVIDIA are used at the Electrolux factory, which the startup received in June.
The Southern Environmental Law Center has sent a letter to the Shelby County Health Department and the regional office of the Environmental Protection Agency requesting that they open an investigation into the unauthorized use of the turbines and environmental pollution. It is noted that xAI has already installed 18 turbines, and possibly more.
Training large language models for further use in AI-based tools and chatbots requires a lot of energy. For example, the energy consumption of such tech giants as Google and Microsoft exceeds that of the entire country of Iceland.
xAI's long-term plan is to use electricity from the local utility Memphis Light, Gas and Water (MLGW). MLGW noted that it began providing 50 megawatts of electricity to the startup in early August, but that an additional 100 megawatts is needed to keep the data center running smoothly.
The use of gas turbines, which activists say have been installed around the plant, is visible even from the road. They emit air pollutants called nitrogen oxides (NOx), which further exacerbate the smog problem in the area.
Even low levels of nitrogen oxides in the air can irritate the eyes, nose, throat, and lungs. Inhaling them can cause rapid burning, spasms and swelling of the tissues in the throat and upper respiratory tract, and other serious health problems.
To use such turbines, business owners in Tennessee must obtain a special permit. These permits set the permissible concentration of emissions and determine the efficiency requirements for the turbines, but Musk's startup did not receive such a permit.
The letter states that the xAI turbines emit about 130 tons of nitrogen oxides annually, making them the ninth largest source of pollutants in the county. These turbines could provide energy for about 50,000 homes.