Three plaintiffs filed the class action on behalf of an estimated 10,000 residents near a gas-fired power plant in Southaven
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A class-action lawsuit brought by three Mississippi residents targets Elon Musk's xAI and SpaceX, with plaintiffs claiming that noise described as "omnipresent and inescapable" emanating from a Southaven power plant has taken a toll on their health and driven down the value of their homes.
Filed in federal court in Oxford, Mississippi, the complaint — which became public on Tuesday — accuses the companies of creating a public nuisance and acting negligently by allowing the disturbance to continue unchecked. The three plaintiffs filed on behalf of a class estimated at more than 10,000 members. xAI subsidiary MZX Tech was also named as a defendant. Musk himself is not a defendant.
Among the remedies sought are compensation for health impacts, lost property value, and related harms, along with a demand that the companies surrender an unspecified portion of their profits. xAI and SpaceX did not respond to requests for comment.
Plaintiffs' attorney Robert Wiygul issued a statement capturing the residents' frustration: "Our homes are supposed to be a sanctuary for us against the world. When they are invaded by noise 24 hours a day, it takes that fundamental peace of a good and decent life away from us."
According to the complaint, xAI poured more than $20 billion into constructing the facility, a project that had the public support of Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves; the plant's gas-fired turbines supply power to data centers throughout the Southaven area. The filing charged that the rapid expansion of AI infrastructure has come at a steep cost to ordinary neighborhoods, with thousands of people forced to endure relentless noise and vibrations.
Tuesday's filing is the second major legal challenge facing xAI over the Southaven facility, following an April complaint from the NAACP alleging environmental violations — a case that is still active in court. Separately, the U.S. Justice Department has indicated through its own court filing that it could enter that litigation, pointing to unresolved questions about federal oversight of AI infrastructure development.
The Southaven litigation reflects broader resistance to data center expansion across the country. Community opposition to data centers has stalled or halted dozens of projects worth more than $156 billion in planned construction, driven by concerns over electricity costs, environmental impact, and quality of life — with roughly 70% of Americans saying they would object to a data center being built in their community, according to Gallup polling.
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