On Wednesday evening, Elon Musk’s xAI sent a rare email to reporters—alerting them that it had received a much-anticipated permit to use gas-powered turbines at its Memphis data center despite blowback from the surrounding community about pollution.
The notice was unusual. For one, it’s rare for xAI—the company that includes X, formerly Twitter, or any of Musk’s other wide array of ventures—to ever engage with the media. Musk famously disbanded the media relations teams across all of his companies years ago, and they now only communicate with the public via social media posts and retain full control of the narrative. xAI has repeatedly ignored reporters’ questions, including from Fortune, about its operations in Memphis and its use of generators that critics say spew toxic pollution.
