SOUTHAVEN — Organizations linked to Elon Musk donated more than $3 million to the Southaven Police Department between December and February, as Musk’s SpaceXAI sought approval for a data center in the city amid increasing public hostility toward the artificial intelligence infrastructure boom.
The donations, which came in two transactions, are part of a wider pattern in which companies and nonprofits affiliated with Musk have donated to public agencies and community organizations in locations important to SpaceXAI’s business deals.
Southaven residents expressed concern on social media that the donations, made in the same period that SpaceXAI and the city negotiated key aspects of a data center deal, presented a possible conflict of interest. Mayor Darren Musselwhite called this perception “simply just not true.” He said that companies commonly donate to support communities where they operate and that Southaven has accepted only money that helps the community at large…