
Elon Musk's xAI is under fire for illegally using dozens of methane gas turbines to power the Colossus data centres in Tennessee. The Environmental Protection Agency issued its final rule on Thursday, 15 January 2026, despite xAI's argument that it was exempt from regulations as the turbines were being used temporarily.
In June of 2025, xAI's Colossus data centre outside of Memphis faced a lawsuit for operating at least 35 natural gas turbines but failing to secure a permit for 20 of them, per a Tech Crunch report.