According to TechCrunch, the Southern Environmental Law Center brought the suit on behalf of the NAACP. xAI argued that the turbines are exempt from permits because they are "mobile" and that the plaintiffs lack standing. Judge Debra M. Brown ruled that the plaintiffs have statutory standing, that the turbines are not "mobile sources" under Mississippi's State Implementation Plan, and that citizen suits do not violate the Constitution.
A similar motion to dismiss from the US Justice Department was denied earlier this month. Abre' Connor, the NAACP's director of environmental and climate justice, said xAI "cannot operate gas turbines without the required permits."
The ruling comes as public opposition to data centers grows: New York recently passed a moratorium on new data centers, and Amazon and Microsoft promised to stop using NDAs in their dealings with government agencies. The ruling lets the lawsuit proceed and does not decide whether xAI broke the law.