The top Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee demands: space x CEO Elon Musk provides a tour of the company’s xAI data centers and power plants in and around Memphis, Tennessee.
“Americans are concerned about what data centers and Big Tech’s push for more AI will mean for their communities, jobs, property values, and their futures,” Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) said in a letter to Musk on Wednesday. “Electricity prices are rising, power grids are straining, clean air and water are being polluted, and noise is harming the health and patience of local residents.”
Public opposition to data centers has grown in the U.S. after xAI built it in Memphis, and other OpenAI facilities are in the works. meta, microsoft and google. A Gallup poll released in May found that 7 in 10 Americans oppose building local AI data centers, with 48% strongly opposed.
Mr. Pallone requested information about Mr. Musk’s facility by August 11.
SpaceX did not respond to a request for comment.
SpaceXAI’s Colossus data center in Memphis, Tennessee, June 17, 2026.
Andrew Evers, CNBC
SpaceX’s artificial intelligence facilities, known as Colossus and Colossus 2, include three data centers packed with cutting-edge technology. Nvidia processor. They were built by xAI before SpaceX acquired Musk’s startup, developer of Grok’s AI models, chatbots, and image editing tools.
The facility is central to SpaceX’s AI ambitions as it competes with the likes of OpenAI and Anthropic to eventually build an orbital data center.
Pallone accused SpaceX and Musk of “disregarding the health and well-being of the community.” He said the company posed a “significant health risk” to nearby residents by “trucking in off-grid gas turbines” to power the facility, all without proper permits or pollution controls.
President Trump’s Justice Department has intervened in a lawsuit brought by environmentalists and the Mississippi NAACP seeking to stop xAI from using its allegedly illegal air-polluting turbines, filing a motion that effectively helps defeat xAI.
“The Trump administration is essentially claiming that it will decide whether SpaceXAI and other companies get a free pass to pollute unhindered,” Pallone wrote. “But just because the Trump administration bends over backwards to give tech companies unfettered control of the air, water, and land of our communities doesn’t make your actions legal.”
New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill (D) enacted legislation earlier this month that would ensure data center operators pay their fair share of electricity costs, rather than passing the costs on to residents and businesses.
Read the letter here.
