Trump admin tries to block Clean Air Act lawsuit over xAI's gas turbines

The Trump administration is moving to shield Elon Musk's xAI from environmental enforcement, intervening in an NAACP lawsuit that challenges the company's unpermitted gas turbines at a massive data center—a striking early test of whether the new administration will prioritize AI growth over the Clean Air Act's four-decade legal framework. The case puts potential conflict-of-interest concerns front and center, given Musk's outsized influence in Trump's orbit and his sprawling business interests that often operate at the margins of regulatory compliance. What happens in this obscure permitting dispute could reshape how the federal government oversees the explosive power demands of artificial intelligence infrastructure.

Ars Technica AI·Jun 16