"I think it’s like for like carnivals"

Below is a 49 sec snippet of the Relentless podcast, where an xAI engineer describes how the company got their data center permits:

The [data center] lease for the land itself was actually technically temporary. It was the fastest way to get the permitting through and actually start building things. Um, I assume that it'll be permanent at some point, but yeah, it's I think a very short-term lease at the moment technically for all the data centers. It's [the] fastest way… there's basically a special exception uh within like the local and state government says okay if you want to just uh modify this ground temporarily I think it's like for like uh carnivals and stuff …so that was the way to get done quickly I mean it was done yeah 122 days

Shortly after giving this interview, the engineer tweeted:

The current administration is trying to accelerate federal permitting for data center builds with executive orders.

But this executive order doesn’t override state and local municipalities. And there are many reasons why a local municipality would not a data center.

When the data centers use too much electricity, they switch from municipal electricity to mobile generators (using gas turbines).

The Southern Environmental Law Center is going after xAI for their turbines in Memphis:

Operating gas turbines can have major impacts on the air and people living and working nearby. The turbines at the xAI facility pump out smog-forming pollution, nitrogen oxides or NOx, and harmful chemicals like formaldehyde.

Memphis has long struggled with poor air quality. The area is already failing to meet federal standards for smog and again received an “F” from the American Lung Association for ozone pollution in 2025. These problems are pronounced in South Memphis, which is made up of predominantly Black communities and is surrounded by industrial polluters, including a steel mill, an oil refinery, a TVA gas plant, and many more. In Boxtown, the neighborhood closest to the xAI facility, the cancer risk is four times the national average.

“For decades, families living in South Memphis have been overburdened with industrial pollution and environmental injustices. Community members we’ve talked with say they worry about being outside for long periods of time because they don’t know what else is in the air,” SELC Senior Attorney Amanda Garcia said.

xAI has not even been using proven and commonsense pollution controls that would reduce the turbines’ impact on Memphians’ air.