Mississippi residents sue Musk’s xAI and SpaceX over data centre ‘nuisance’

Elon Musk’s xAI and SpaceX have been sued by Mississippi residents who say a power plant fuelling nearby data centres is blasting “omnipresent and inescapable” noise that has eroded their health and home values.

The lawsuit, made public on Tuesday in federal court in Oxford, Mississippi, claims Musk’s companies negligently failed to curb the disturbance and created a public nuisance through excessive and offensive noise. Three residents filed the case on behalf of a class estimated at more than 10,000 members.

“The artificial intelligence [AI] boom is wreaking havoc on communities across the United States” by subjecting thousands of residents to near-constant noise and vibrations, the lawsuit said.

The plaintiffs are seeking damages for alleged emotional distress, reduced property values and other harms, as well as disgorgement of an unspecified amount in profits.

SpaceX and xAI did not immediately respond to requests for comment from the Reuters news agency.  MZX Tech, an xAI subsidiary, was also named as a defendant. Musk is not a defendant.

A lawyer for the plaintiffs, Robert Wiygul, said in a statement, “Our homes are supposed to be a sanctuary for us against the world.” However, he added, “When they are invaded by noise 24 hours a day, it takes that fundamental peace of a good and decent life away from us.”

More than $20bn was invested by xAI to build the plant at Southaven with the backing of Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves. Gas-fired turbines at Southaven power data centres in and around Southaven, the lawsuit said.

The civil rights group NAACP in April sued xAI over the plant and centres, accusing the company of violating US environmental rules. The lawsuit is pending.

The US Department of Justice signalled in a court filing last month that it may intervene in the NAACP case, saying the dispute raises legal and policy questions around the government’s role in AI infrastructure.