News-June-16-2026
June 16, 2026 — The Justice Department backed xAI in litigation over unpermitted gas turbines powering its Memphis data centers, arguing that shutting off the turbines could affect AI systems used for national-security and military operations.[1]
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editJustice Department backs xAI in NAACP data-center pollution suit
editThe U.S. Department of Justice filed in support of xAI in a lawsuit seeking to stop the company from operating dozens of unpermitted natural-gas turbines near its Memphis data centers.[1] The filing argued that the requested shutdown would undermine American national, economic, and energy security because the power supply supported artificial-intelligence innovation used by the Department of War's military operations.[1] TechCrunch reported that the NAACP filed the lawsuit in April and that the Justice Department memorandum identified Grok as one of four AI models supporting mission-critical operations, including recent strikes in Iran.[1] The dispute links data-center permitting and environmental enforcement to federal claims about strategic AI infrastructure, making it relevant to AI-law coverage even though the underlying claims concern air pollution and power generation.[1]