Residents of Southaven, Mississippi, say a persistent, loud hum from the power plant serving xAI’s largest data center disrupts their lives. Elizabeth Rose, a piano teacher in the neighborhood of Colonial Hills, told The Guardian that the sound resembles an aircraft engine and has woken her during the night.
xAI’s subsidiary MZX has offered to buy homes in the area, but its letter to residents makes the offer conditional: owners must not participate in a class-action lawsuit seeking to make the company reduce noise and air pollution. The plan covers the neighborhood’s 418 homes, and at least 18 owners had accepted offers, according to The Guardian. MZX says it needs land for commercial purposes.
The lawsuit began in June, after three residents complained about near-constant noise and vibration. Jason Haley, who lives about 800 meters from the facility’s gas turbines, has posted videos documenting the noise. xAI denies the allegations and says it has built sound barriers. Southaven’s mayor says local inspectors found no violations of the 70-decibel noise limit and describes the proposed purchases as a gesture of goodwill.
The power plant currently operates 69 temporary gas turbines. The company had argued that the mobile units did not need air-quality permits, but the US Environmental Protection Agency determined earlier this year that permits were required. In April, the NAACP and environmental groups filed a lawsuit seeking to stop the turbines. A judge rejected the Justice Department’s attempt to halt that case on national-security grounds.
xAI later reached an agreement with Mississippi’s regulator to remove the turbines before July 2027. The company plans to replace them with a fixed 1.2-gigawatt plant containing 41 authorized turbines.
Sources: Xataka.