Thermal drone footage has added fuel to a growing controversy in Southaven, Mississippi, where Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company xAI is accused of operating unpermitted gas turbines to power its expanding datacenter footprint, as reported by The Guardian.
An investigation by Floodlight newsroom used aerial thermal imaging (yep, the same that we write a lot about it, used mostly to find missing persons or pets) to confirm that more than a dozen turbines remain active at xAI’s Southaven facility, despite a January ruling from the Environmental Protection Agency reiterating that such equipment requires state permits under the Clean Air Act before operation.
The EPA warned that exempting these engines could leave them “subject to no emission standards at all.” Former EPA air enforcement chief Bruce Buckheit, after reviewing the footage, was blunt. Operators are supposed to obtain permission first, not ask forgiveness later.
Yet Mississippi regulators maintain that because the turbines sit on tractor trailers and are classified as portable or mobile units, they are exempt from state permitting requirements during what they describe as a temporary period. Federal guidance says otherwise.
A Regulatory Tug of War in Southaven
At the center of the dispute is a 114 acre site in Southaven, just across the Tennessee border from Memphis. The turbines help power Grok, xAI’s controversial chatbot, and support the company’s rapidly expanding Colossus datacenter cluster, which stretches from South Memphis into Mississippi.
The EPA clarified on January 15 that gas turbines like these require permits. Thermal imagery captured nearly two weeks later showed at least 15 turbines still running…