Video: We caught Elon Musk's AI company flouting EPA rules using a thermal drone
Video: We caught Elon Musk's AI company flouting EPA rules using a thermal droneElon Musk’s artificial intelligence company, xAI, is continuing to fuel its data centers with unpermitted gas turbines, according to a Floodlight visual investigation. Thermal drone footage captured in late January 2026, shows xAI running the unpermitted turbines at its custom built powerplant in Southaven, Miss., nearly two weeks after an Environmental Protection Agency ruling reiterated that doing so requires a state permit in advance. The ad hoc gas plant's sole task is to power the datacenter behind Grok and is part of an increasing reliance among AI companies on fossil fuels.Read the full investigation in our original story, co-published with The Guardian:‘A different set of rules’: Thermal drone footage shows Musk’s AI power plant flouting clean air regulationsImages confirm xAI is continuing to defy EPA regulations in Mississippi to power its flagship data centers.FloodlightEvan Simon/FloodlightVideo: We caught Elon Musk's AI company flouting EPA rules using a thermal droneVideo: We caught Elon Musk's AI company flouting EPA rules using a thermal droneCurious how we pulled off this project? Read our Q&A with reporter Evan Simon:AdvertisementAdvertisementInside the reporting: Using a thermal drone to investigate xAI’s power plantA Q&A with reporter Evan Simon on how this first-of-its-kind investigation came together.FloodlightEvan Simon/FloodlightVideo: We caught Elon Musk's AI company flouting EPA rules using a thermal droneVideo: We caught Elon Musk's AI company flouting EPA rules using a thermal droneThis investigation took months of reporting and specialized equipment. Want to support work like this? Make a donation to Floodlight and help us continue investigations like this one.
