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8 converted jet engines are powering xAI data centers as companies look for new energy sources

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8 converted jet engines are powering xAI data centers as companies look for new energy sources

Elon Musk's xAI is using eight converted jet engine turbines to power a Mississippi data center. While the generators have the required state-level permission and permits, there remain concerns about the impact they could have on the local environment. The permits allow for a 25% higher limit in pollutants known as volatile organic compounds, but those compounds, paired with the expulsion of carbon monoxide, have environmentalists warning that the use of jet engines to power data centers is a step in the wrong direction. The New York Times reports that the Southern Environmental Law Center has already challenged Mississippi's decision to approve the turbines for use at xAI's data center.

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The group argues that xAI has failed to provide guarantees that the jet-powered turbines meet emissions standards for specific pollutants, including formaldehyde. It also accuses xAI of what the report terms the "undercounting" of projected emissions in relation to the data center's power sources. This comes after the same group sued xAI over its use of gas generators without the required permits in an area with more than 100,000 inhabitants.

The generators used by xAI are converted by ProEnergy , a Missouri-based outfit that repurposes the unused General Electric turbines that are typically found attached to Boeing airplanes.


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