xAI has added 19 natural gas turbines to its Southaven, Mississippi data center since late March, bringing the total to 46 turbines and adding more than 500 megawatts of capacity, even as the company faces a lawsuit from the NAACP and environmental groups over air permit violations.

xAI installed 19 portable gas turbines at its Colossus 2 site in Southaven between late March and early May, according to internal emails obtained by WIRED. The additions bring the total operating turbines at the site to 46, with more than 500 megawatts of natural gas generating capacity added since mid-March.

Eight of the 19 new turbines, representing more than 200 megawatts of output, were installed after the NAACP filed a lawsuit in April alleging that xAI was operating 27 gas turbines without necessary air permits in violation of the Clean Air Act. The MDEQ granted an air permit for 41 turbines at the Southaven site in March.

xAI responded to an emergency injunction request by stating that the data centers powered by the turbines "are essential to the operation of cutting-edge artificial intelligence and other computing tools used by the U.S. government and millions of users worldwide" and that they "cannot currently function" without the temporary power generation equipment.