Musk's xAI is buying out neighbors so they won't sue

Real estate agents are going door to door in the Colonial Hills neighborhood of Southaven, Mississippi, offering to buy homes on behalf of MZX, the xAI subsidiary that runs a power plant feeding Elon Musk's data centers. The letter is blunt about the catch: sellers sign away all claims against the plant and stay out of a class action filed against it.

Three residents sued in June over what they call near constant noise and vibration from the gas turbines powering xAI's facilities. One plaintiff, Jason Haley, lives about half a mile from the turbines and says it sounds like a plane flying over his house and keeps him up at night. A neighbor two miles away says it wakes her at 2am and 3am.

According to The Guardian, a realtor told one resident the target is 418 homes, with 18 owners already on board. County records show MZX has bought five homes since October 9. Residents say offers are based on market appraisals, and the average house there sells for about $180,000. Lawyers for the plaintiffs warn that no court has approved the deal, and anyone who signs the release gives up any compensation from the lawsuit or on their own.

xAI denies the allegations and says it wants to be a good neighbor, pointing to sound walls and changes in the plant's output. Southaven's mayor says the homes will house xAI staff and calls the buyout a goodwill gesture, not a company town. Some locals already call the area "Elonville".

In two years xAI has built three huge data centers in Memphis and Southaven to train Grok, and the noise has become the main fight with its neighbors. Paying people to move and stay quiet apparently costs less than making the turbines quiet.