# Judge rejects xAI's mobile-source defense in air permit lawsuit > Source: > Published: 2026-11-02 13:27:55+00:00 # Judge rejects xAI's mobile-source defense in air permit lawsuit **Judge Debra M. Brown denied xAI's motion on October 30th, letting the NAACP pursue its unpermitted-turbine claims against Elon Musk's SpaceX-owned AI company.** By [RuntimeWire Staff](https://runtimewire.com/author/runtimewire-staff) · Published · Updated Primary source: [Tom's Hardware](https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/data-centers/spacex-loses-bid-to-dismiss-lawsuit-over-xai-data-center-pollution-judge-rules-mississippi-gas-turbines-are-not-exempt-from-the-clean-air-act) ## Why it matters The ruling keeps alive a citizen-suit path that could force permits, pollution controls, penalties or operating limits on the temporary gas plants AI companies use when grid power cannot keep up with GPU buildouts. [Elon Musk (@elonmusk)](https://x.com/elonmusk?ref=runtimewire) founded xAI in 2023. A federal judge has now allowed a lawsuit over permits for the gas plant supplying its Colossus 2 data center to proceed.… When you purchase through links in our articles, [we may earn a small commission](https://runtimewire.com/affiliate-monetization-standards). This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.