On June 8, Elon Musk’s chatbot, Grok, launched into a tirade of antisemitic, white supremacist, and misogynistic tweets on X, including making multiple comments praising Adolf Hitler.
The incident comes just days after xAI, the artificial intelligence startup powering Grok, received clearance to operate 15 natural gas turbines at its data center outside Memphis. The turbines will be permitted to release a certain amount of emissions each year—including nitrous oxides, carbon monoxide, and formaldehyde—which, according to the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC), are a threat not only to the environment, but also to the health of local community members.
Now, as Grok comes under fire for hate speech, its parent company is facing a lawsuit for potentially violating the Clean Air Act.
Here’s what to know about Grok’s most recent problematic rant, and the controversial data center fueling the chatbot:
What happened with Grok?
In a series of replies highlighted by users on Tuesday, Grok used the antisemitic dog whistle phrase “every damn time,” violently described acts of sexual assault, and repeatedly praised Hitler. This isn’t the first time that the chatbot’s algorithm has regurgitated misinformation or hate speech, either: During the 2024 presidential election, Grok spread misinformation for over a week, and this May, a tweak to the chatbot’s programming caused it to constantly repeat false claims about “white genocide” in South Africa, which were repeatedly supported by Musk himself.
Grok was explicitly developed as an “anti-woke” alternative to other chatbots, and was trained on data pulled from the increasingly conservative environment on X with few guardrails around extremist content, but the most recent comments were particularly vitriolic. In response, the Grok account tweeted that it was “actively working” to remove the inappropriate posts, and Musk himself added that Grok was “too eager to please and be manipulated.” Following the incident, X CEO Linda Yaccarino announced she was stepping down.
Amidst all of this chaos, it might’ve been easy to miss the news that xAI is actively investing even more funds—and greenhouse gas emissions—into furthering the AI technology that powers Grok.
Why xAI is facing an NAACP lawsuit for its South Memphis data center
Currently, xAI is developing the AI technology that powers Grok using a supercomputer facility called Colossus outside of Memphis, Tennessee. Data centers like Colossus generally require a lot of energy because, on average, running AI software takes about 10 times the electricity of equivalent non-AI software. Due to this massive demand, the majority of AI data centers can’t count on the existing grid to provide enough power for their purposes at any given time. So, companies like xAI turn to their own, outside power sources for a constant supply of fuel.
On July 2, regulators at the Shelby County Health Department granted xAI permission to operate 15 natural gas turbines to fuel the data center. The permit gives xAI clearance to emit certain amounts of pollution every 12 months to power Colossus, including 87 tons of nitrogen oxides, 94 tons of carbon monoxide, 73 tons of particulate pollution, and 9.8 tons of formaldehyde (a known carcinogen), among others.
But, according to the SELC, that’s not a full accounting of the total pollution. On June 15, on behalf of the NAACP, the SELC sent a letter to xAI signaling its intent to sue the company over “continued use of unpermitted gas turbines” at its South Memphis data center, alleging that the company violated the Clean Air Act by operating dozens of polluting turbines without permits or public oversight.
In a press release, the SELC claims that, after xAI began its operations at the data center in June 2024 (long before the county granted this most recent permission), the company began installing dozens of methane gas turbines without any permits.
“Aerial images obtained by SELC revealed 35 turbines at the site in March, and follow-up thermal images obtained in April showed that nearly all of the turbines were emitting significant amounts of heat, indicating they were running,” the release reads. “New satellite images show that, while the company has removed some smaller-sized turbines, it has recently installed three larger turbines.”
The statement goes on to note that gas turbines release smog-forming pollution and chemicals that are “tied to increases in asthma, respiratory diseases, heart problems, and certain cancers,” adding that the South Memphis data center is located near several predominantly Black communities that are already overburdened with industrial pollution.
In May, the SELC also claimed that it had uncovered documents indicating that xAI plans to install between 40 and 90 methane gas turbines at a second South Memphis data center, though that finding was quickly refuted by the Greater Memphis Chamber. Currently, the NAACP’s lawsuit against xAI is still pending.
In regard to the Shelby County Health Department’s recent turbine approvals, the SELC argued in a July 2 press release that the decision “ignores the facility’s continued use of turbines not covered by the permit and months of intense public pushback.”
“The decision to give xAI an air permit for its polluting gas turbines flies in the face of the hundreds of Memphians who spoke out against the company’s permit request,” Amanda Garcia, an SELC Senior Attorney, said in the release. “Instead of confronting long-standing air pollution problems in South Memphis, the Shelby County Health Department is turning a blind eye to obvious Clean Air Act violations in order to allow another polluter to set up shop in this already-overburdened community without appropriate protections.”
No comments