The Justice Department argues that shutting down xAI's Colossus 2 facility would harm military operations that rely on the Grok AI model.

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has filed a motion to dismiss an NAACP lawsuit targeting xAI’s unpermitted gas turbines, arguing that the case poses a threat to national security by potentially cutting power to AI infrastructure used by the U.S. military. [1]

In its filing, the DOJ contends that the suit “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.” [1]

The national security argument rests on a declaration from Cameron Stanley, Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Officer at the Department of Defense, who states that Grok — xAI’s large language model and chatbot — is one of only four AI models that “support mission-critical operations across Secret and Top-Secret classified networks,” including recent strikes against Iran. [1]

The NAACP brought the lawsuit over xAI’s operation of unpermitted gas turbines at its Colossus 2 data center in Southaven, Mississippi. [1] According to the Southern Environmental Law Center, the number of turbines at the site has grown from 27 to 57 since April, resulting in a 111 percent increase in nitrogen oxide emissions. [1]

xAI, which is part of SpaceX and owned by Elon Musk, operates Colossus 2 as one of just two major data centers in its portfolio. [1]