xAI filed permits for major Memphis data center campus expansion while facing NAACP emissions lawsuit.

Elon Musk's xAI is filing for major expansion at its Memphis facilities, submitting approximately $300 million in permit applications for its Colossus I and Colossus II campuses between May and late June.

For Colossus I, xAI plans roughly $301 million in expansion work, according to city records. A single permit covers an alteration project valued at nearly $250 million for light manufacturing, described as "assembly of equipment, instruments, or goods." A separate permit requests approximately $50 million for warehouse and distribution infrastructure.

Colossus II filings indicate roughly $250 million in expansion work tied to "Phase III" development.

The expansion efforts are proceeding against an ongoing legal challenge. The NAACP has filed a lawsuit alleging xAI violates the Clean Air Act by operating dozens of methane-fueled generators without required permits. The group is seeking a court order to halt the turbines' operation, arguing they lack proper authorization.

In related permit activity, xAI withdrew an electrical permit submitted on June 15 for Colossus II that would have covered new raceways, cables, and "terminations from existing switchgear" feeding new transformers. However, the Memphis and Shelby County Division of Planning and Development has already granted two electrical permits for office space additions at Colossus II.

City records also show two permit applications to remove "30 fixtures" related to plumbing at Colossus II, with one already approved and estimated at $300,000. Additionally, xAI is preparing to restart construction on a promised greywater recycling facility near Colossus II.

In May, Tennessee lawmakers passed HB1847, legislation requiring data center owners or operators to "pay for the full cost of infrastructure needed to support the data center, including expansions or upgrades to existing utility infrastructure necessary to both support the proposed or existing data center and continue providing the same services to the utility's existing customers."