xAI, an artificial intelligence company, has been operating 24 methane gas turbines at its Memphis data center without proper permits, despite securing a permit for only 15. According to imaging, the actual number of turbines on site far exceeds the permitted amount. The air permit, which expires on January 2, 2027, requires the installation of best available control technology (BACT) by September 1 to minimize emissions.
The statistics are stark: 24 turbines, exceeding the 15 required to be tracked for emissions. This discrepancy raises concerns about potential pollution exposure in predominantly Black neighborhoods. The health department has granted permits for some of the turbines, but not all, ignoring continued use and community concerns.
The permit requires BACT installation by September 1, highlighting the importance of minimizing emissions. With the permit set to expire on January 2, 2027, it remains to be seen whether xAI will meet these requirements and provide transparency on its emissions.
Simon Willison
@simonw
·
Jun 12 The biggest scandal in AI energy right now deserves to be xAI’s data center running 35 methane gas turbines that don’t need air permits because “temporary” and don’t have catalytic reduction pollution controls installed because… they just didn’t bother?
Anonymous
@YourAnonNews
·
May 13 Elon Musk doesn’t give a fuck about people. He is a self-serving pos
“It is appalling that xAI would operate more than 30 methane gas turbines without any permits or any public oversight,” said Amanda Garcia, a senior attorney for the Southern Environmental Law Center. “xAI’s
USAva.Team | Development | Support 24/7
@usava_team
·
Jul 1 German researchers have found a direct correlation between the efficiency of AI and its ecological footprint. An analysis of 14 open language models (commercial ChatGPT systems were not studied) showed that the more accurate the AI, the more energy and CO₂ it consumes. Special
Context News
@ContextNewsroom
·
Jun 28 Big Tech denies the soaring demands of AI and cloud computing bust the sector’s emission goals.
Carey Biron reports
https://context.news/just-transition/ai-data-centre-boom-could-destroy-big-techs-net-zero-plans?utm_campaign=context-newsroom&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social…
via⋆.ೃ࿔*:･
@serendipityspo
·
Apr 8 i don’t have time to type out everything in detail about it’s carbon emissions and water waste to train ai models since i’m at dinner with my dad but here’s some places to read ab it
https://news.mit.edu/2025/explained-generative-ai-environmental-impact-0117…
https://thepolypost.com/opinion/2024/10/29/ais-environmental-impact-on-earth-how-ai-is-slowly-killing-the-planet/amp/…
https://unep.org/news-and-stories/story/ai-has-environmental-problem-heres-what-world-can-do-about…
Koldo Orrantia
@koldoorrantia
·
20h Experts are calling for mandatory transparency standards to properly evaluate and reduce AI’s environmental impact.
#Energy #AI #LLM
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional
Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
