SpaceX and the NAACP are in a legal battle over the use of turbines in Southaven, Mississippi, for powering the Colossus II data center in Memphis. This week, the Department of Justice got involved, as reported by Molly Taft at Wired:
In a filing, the agency sided with Elon Musk’s company, saying attempts to stop xAI from running the natural gas turbines “threatens American national, economic, and energy security by seeking to shut off the power supply for artificial-intelligence innovation that supports the Department of War’s military operations.”
The DOJ, along with xAI and the state of Mississippi, asked the court to dismiss the suit, filed by the NAACP in April.
Taft continues:
According to the DOJ memorandum, there are only four artificial intelligence models, including Grok, that “support mission-critical operations across Secret and Top-Secret classified networks.” A separate declaration filed by Cameron Stanley, the chief digital and artificial intelligence officer at the Department of Defense, details how the military relies on Grok’s Gov model to “support vital national security missions.” That includes using the model as part of recent strikes against Iran. Forcing xAI to stop running the gas turbines powering Colossus 2, Stanley says, “directly threatens ongoing national security interests.”
Samuel Hardiman at The Daily Memphian:
“In particular, if Colossus 2 is shut down because it cannot rely on power from the Stanton Road site, xAI would lose capacity to train and develop future improved versions of Grok,” Stanley wrote. “And if xAI is hindered from continuing to improve and upgrade Grok, including the Grok Gov Model, DoW’s ability to meet its national security mission and keep pace with adversaries will be impaired.”
Stanley said that xAI’s data centers in Memphis, including Colossus II, could be relied upon by the U.S. government in the event of another armed conflict or matter of national security.