xAI and its subsidiary MZX are offering to buy hundreds of homes near Southaven, Mississippi, asking owners in return to give up any legal claims connected to the company's data center operations there. The offer was reported by the Mississippi Free Press, which obtained a letter sent to several households. Southaven sits just across the Tennessee border from Memphis.
In the letter, MZX denies all allegations against it but says it needs property for business purposes. Through its real estate broker, the company is offering to purchase real estate in Southaven in exchange for a release of all claims tied to a lawsuit. Homeowners who accept would sign a real estate contract and then a separate release agreement at closing.
The letter states plainly what that release means: by signing it, residents would surrender possible claims related to the Southaven Plant, including any claims in connection with the Haley action. After signing, they could not recover damages or other relief through the Haley lawsuit, nor could they bring claims on their own behalf.
The Guardian reported that xAI made the purchase offer to homeowners who do not join a lawsuit filed by three residents. Those residents accuse the company's large data center and gas-fired turbines of producing near-constant noise and vibrations. xAI has expanded its data center construction in recent years, building two large Colossus facilities in Memphis and bringing its Macrohardrr data center and an accompanying power plant to Southaven.
Opposition to AI data centers is intensifying as midterm elections approach. Last week, the Memphis City Council rejected a one-year moratorium on AI data center development and instead passed an ordinance pausing construction for 135 days. Mississippi's governor has touted the company's plan to invest more than $20 billion in the area, while SpaceXAI recently reported it faces up to $6.1 million in potential civil penalties for environmental law violations and more than $220 million in claims of unpaid bills for work at the Memphis and Southaven sites.
Beyond the residents' suit, xAI faces legal action from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, which accuses the company of running dozens of unpermitted methane gas turbines in Southaven. A federal judge blocked the Trump administration's attempt to dismiss that lawsuit earlier this month.
More hardware news from TechManNews.
