SpaceX agrees with Mississippi to remove Colossus gas turbines by July 2027

Gizmodo reported that SpaceX entered an agreement with the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality setting a timeline to remove all 69 mobile gas turbines at its Southaven, Mississippi, power facility that supports the Colossus AI data center complex. The company said it would start removing temporary turbines as early as August as a permanent 1.2 gigawatt natural-gas plant comes online, while the deal allows clearance of all units through July 2027. Gizmodo said the Southaven site sits across the state line from Colossus 2 in Memphis, used to train and run xAI's Grok models and, for now, to lease compute to other AI firms including Anthropic. SpaceXAI said the permanent plant under construction will use 41 permanent turbines authorized under a Clean Air Act permit granted in March 2026. The pact follows litigation: in April the NAACP and Southern Environmental Law Center sued xAI over turbines operated without a permit. SpaceXAI has argued trailer-mounted units qualify for a temporary-mobile exemption for up to a year. Gizmodo said the Justice Department sided with xAI in that case, citing AI power for national and energy security. SpaceX acquired xAI in February before its IPO. Gizmodo noted the IPO filing estimated a $28.5 trillion total addressable market with roughly $26.5 trillion from AI and nearly $3 billion in planned gas-turbine purchases. Implication: A state cleanup schedule lets SpaceX keep Colossus powered while shifting from contested temporary turbines to permitted permanent gas capacity.