Mississippi residents sue xAI and SpaceX over data center noise

A Southaven power plant tied to Elon Musk’s AI expansion has become the latest flashpoint in the fight over data-center buildouts. Three DeSoto County residents sued xAI, SpaceX and MZX Tech in federal court in Oxford, saying the gas-fired turbines at 2875 Stanton Road have subjected nearby neighborhoods to relentless noise and vibration that have damaged sleep, health and home values.

The case was filed as a class action on behalf of more than 10,000 people, according to the complaint. The plaintiffs, Jason Haley, Preston Zane Herrington and Taylor Logsdon, said the disturbance from the Southaven site amounts to a public nuisance and that the companies failed to curb it even as the area around the data center grew more congested with industrial activity.

The lawsuit widens the view beyond artificial intelligence software and into the physical machinery behind it. xAI’s Colossus operations in the Memphis area have depended on a local energy footprint that includes turbines, land use and heavy power demand, and residents have argued for months that those costs have landed most sharply on nearby neighborhoods rather than on the companies or the broader AI market. The complaint says the noise and vibrations have been so persistent that they have become a daily quality-of-life issue, not just an industrial annoyance.

The new case lands after a separate federal Clean Air Act lawsuit filed in April by the NAACP and Mississippi State Conference of the NAACP, with legal help from Earthjustice and the Southern Environmental Law Center. That suit said xAI was operating 27 methane gas turbines at the Southaven site without an air permit. Later reporting said the number of turbines had risen to at least 46, even though Mississippi regulators had approved permits for 41 turbines at the location.

Local officials have split sharply from residents over the project. Southaven Mayor Darren Musselwhite has said xAI could bring significant tax revenue to the city and county, and he has promoted a $12.8 million noise-mitigation plan that included a dirt berm and landscaping. Neighbors and advocates say those promises have not matched the day-to-day reality of constant, jet-engine-like noise, vibrations and disrupted sleep.

The dispute has become a national test of who pays for the AI buildout. As companies race to secure land, power and cooling for data centers, residents around Southaven are showing that the backlash is no longer abstract. It is being litigated at the fence line.