A Time magazine investigation revealed that Elon Musk’s AI data center in Memphis has caused a surge in pollution risks for the people of Boxtown, a predominantly Black community with about 3,000 residents.

“It felt like my chest was caving in,” Alexis Humphreys, 28, told Time, recalling her first asthma attack in 15 years after inhaling the smell of gas that circulated throughout her neighborhood.

How is Musk’s xAI center causing pollution and health risks in Boxtown?

Musk launched the AI center just a few miles from Boxtown, creating what is now considered the world’s largest supercomputer called Colossus. The machine has about 230,000 Nvidia GPUs, a training power that allows Musk to surpass his competitors in the tech world. Those computers emit 35 unpermitted temporary gas turbines, and according to environmentalists, this exacerbates the health issues stemming from the existing pollution problem in Boxtown, which has persisted for decades, per Time.

The University of Tennessee analyzed the air quality in South Memphis over the last few years based on public satellite data from NASA and the European Space Agency. Researchers concluded that “average concentrations of nitrogen dioxide have increased by 3% when comparing the periods before June 2024 and afterward,” according to Time journalist Andrew R. Chow.

Additionally, “peak nitrogen dioxide concentration levels have increased by 79% from pre-xAI levels in areas immediately surrounding the data center, and by 9% in nearby Boxtown.”

‘These emissions pose the greatest risk to our city’s most vulnerable residents’

“These changes in pollutant concentrations likely reflect the combined influence of natural gas-fired emission sources in the area, including both the new xAI facility and the increased utilization of the Allen power plant,” Joshua Fu, a civil and environmental engineering professor, and Zhixu Sun, a PhD student, said, Time reported.

Austin Dalgo, an academic primary care physician in South Memphis, said the rise in nitrogen dioxide concentration levels is “alarming” and poses a significant risk to Boxtown residents and their health.

“The xAI turbines are leading to a public health crisis in Memphis by releasing nitrogen oxides — pollutants known to directly harm the lungs,” Dalgo told Time. “These emissions pose the greatest risk to our city’s most vulnerable residents, including children, the elderly, and individuals with respiratory conditions like asthma and COPD.”

While environmentalists and other experts believe the chemicals from the machine are harmful, xAI had a different point of view on how it would affect nearby communities. The company, along with other supporters like the Greater Memphis Chamber of Commerce, “insisted the turbines were legal, generated negligible amounts of pollution, and were only temporary,” Chow reported in Time.

Eliminating Tennessee’s state income tax could cause greater harm for local communities

In April, they said the units would be replaced with cleaner models that would regulate pollution levels, a move that was supposed to happen sometime this summer. Local advocates are concerned that xAI’s approach will be followed by other large companies, leading to increased pollution and health risks for communities.

After Tennessee lawmakers repealed the state income tax in 2021, local governments began relying more heavily on large businesses to generate revenue through property taxes.

“Property taxes are the mother’s milk of how government is funded.” Bobby White, chief government affairs officer at the Greater Memphis Chamber of Commerce, told Time. “And we have not, historically, had people tripping over themselves to get to Memphis. We have to go get it out of the mud.”

Dalgo questioned how the public would respond if Musk’s xAI center were placed in communities outside predominantly Black neighborhoods.

“Imagine the outcry if these facilities had been placed next to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, no one would allow it. … Instead, they were placed in the backyard of a historically Black, underserved neighborhood, reinforcing a long legacy of environmental racism in Memphis — and our country,” he explained.

xAI is building a larger second site in Whitehaven, which will have 550,000 Nvidia GPUs. In August, The Commercial Appeal reported that an xAI subsidiary delivered 66 natural gas turbines to the site. Additionally, the company announced a hefty contract with the U.S. Defense Department worth up to $200 million to strengthen tech tools within the country’s military.

Musk has not commented on the criticism of the center’s pollution and health risks to Black communities like Boxtown.

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