xAI, SpaceX Hit with Class Action Lawsuit Over Data Center Power Plant Noise in Southaven, Mississippi

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A proposed class action lawsuit alleges that xAI continually allows industrial noise from its power plant in Southaven, Mississippi to intrude upon nearby residential areas, harming residents’ health and depriving them of the full enjoyment of their properties.

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The 62-page environmental lawsuit says defendants X.AI Corp., parent company Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX), and MZX Tech LLC have failed to take measures to prevent “persistent,” excessive and intolerable noise from intruding upon residential areas, parks and schools near their power plant located at 2875 Stanton Road South in Southaven, Mississippi.

The complaint says that the power plant contains loud, gas-fired turbines and extensive cooling systems, which are used to power xAI’s massive data centers in nearby Memphis and Whitehaven, Tennessee, known respectively as “Colossus I” and “Colossus II.” The case relays that these data centers house computers that are used to train and run xAI’s artificial intelligence (AI) tools, including the well-known large language model (LLM) Grok.

AI models, particularly LLMs, require considerable amounts of energy, the suit says, and the gas-fired turbines at the Southaven plant allegedly run 24 hours a day, seven days a week, which means the plant is “blasting noise” into the surrounding area “all day, every day,” according to the complaint.

The lawsuit says the noise has tormented nearby residents since the Southaven power plant began operating in August 2025 and is “pervasive and inescapable,” particularly at night when residents are trying to sleep.

Per the complaint, the sound from the Southaven power plant, which residents have compared to a jet engine, includes a combination of high-pitched squealing, whining, roaring, low-frequency rumbling and tonal humming that can be heard from properties in both Southaven and the neighboring town of Horn Lake. Moreover, the low-frequency noise can be felt like a vibration, much like the bass at a concert, the case says.

The incessant noise has led to myriad physical and psychological symptoms in affected residents, including anxiety, irritability, increased stress, loss of sleep, headaches, nausea, tinnitus and more, the filing says. Moreover, continuous low-level exposure to noise with low frequencies or tonal components that are not audibly detectable still has harmful effects on a person’s health, the complaint states.

The noise has led residents to alter their normal behaviors to escape the distressing sounds, the suit alleges. The plaintiffs say they are no longer able to open their windows; do yardwork; or play, watch wildlife, relax or lounge outside without being confronted with intolerable noise. Moreover, residents are concerned that their property values have fallen due to the noise, the filing says, with one resident remarking, “I couldn’t give away my house with all this noise.”

Importantly, residents have allegedly measured noise levels from the Southaven power plant that exceed 70 A-weighted decibels (dBA) at their property lines, which violates Southaven’s noise ordinance, the case says.

Despite the original three turbines being described as “temporary” by xAI, the company has been running the turbines for nearly a year and has rapidly constructed additional turbines that continue to exacerbate the intolerable noise, per the complaint. The case states that as of May 2026, the defendants have increased the number of temporary turbines in the Southaven plant to 57.

To make matters worse, the lawsuit says that on March 10, 2026, MZX, an entity allegedly managed by xAI to facilitate transactions at the Southaven plant, received a permit allowing the construction of 41 permanent turbines on the property without any meaningful assurance from the defendants that they will reduce the amount of noise emanating from the facility.

“For [the] [d]efendants, increasing the number of turbines has meant more power to their data centers, and therefore more profit. For the Southaven and Horn Lake Communities, it has meant—and continues to mean—more noise, more distress, and more harm,” the lawsuit emphasizes.

The complaint notes that the case is “a textbook example of putting profits over people, with corporate interests tramping residents’ fundamental right to use and enjoy their property.”

The xAI class action lawsuit looks to cover all individuals who resided in and/or owned residential property at any time between August 2025 and the present within the following geographic area:

“[T]he area bounded by Stateline Road West to the North; U.S. Highway 51 to the East; Nail Road to the South; and a vertical boundary line to the West that is 1 mile West of Horn Lake Road.”

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