xAI agrees to remove all 69 unpermitted wind turbines from Colossus data center campus and replace with 1.2GW power plant over 12 months.

xAI will begin removing 69 mobile turbines from its Colossus data center campus straddling the Tennessee-Mississippi border this month, with complete removal expected by July 2027. The trailer-mounted generators, which sparked a lawsuit over air pollution and operating without required permits, will be phased out as the company's planned 1.2GW power plant comes online over the next 12 months.

The removal follows complaints from surrounding communities and environmental groups, including an NAACP lawsuit challenging the unpermitted turbines. Though xAI initially argued that their temporary nature exempted them from licensing requirements, the EPA clarified that permit requirements applied regardless. The U.S. Department of Justice had opposed immediate removal, citing concerns that Colossus 2 "supports mission-critical operations" and that dismantling the generators could jeopardize national security.

xAI deployed the mobile turbines to power its rapid data center build-out, installing 100,000 Nvidia H200 GPUs in just 19 days—one of the fastest AI infrastructure deployments on record. Rather than wait for grid connections, the company used the generators to achieve that pace, an approach now being replicated by competitors including OpenAI developing their own power generation systems.

The company has reached an agreement with the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality. The new 1.2GW replacement plant has been approved under a Clean Air Act permit. Additionally, xAI is retrofitting its mobile turbines with advanced emissions control technologies to reduce environmental impact during the transition period. The specific origin of the planned power plant—whether it is an imported overseas facility as Musk has reportedly indicated—remains undisclosed.