Residents of Southaven, in northern Mississippi, have received an unusual offer: xAI, owned by Elon Musk, proposes to buy their homes, on the condition they do not join a lawsuit targeting the neighboring data center, deemed too noisy. As reported by the Guardian, real estate agents have gone door-to-door in the Colonial Hill neighborhood.
According to one of these agents, the goal is to buy 418 homes. Eighteen homeowners are considering accepting the offer, and five others have already sold their properties in October. In this neighborhood, the average home price is around $180,000, or €160,000.
A Massive and Noisy Complex
Since July 2024, residents of Colonial Hill have seen three enormous xAI data centers, named Colossus I, Colossus II and Macrohardrr, rise from the ground. Located on the border of Mississippi and Tennessee, in the Memphis suburbs, the site is among the largest supercomputing centers dedicated to The AI / news in the world, according to the source’s description. Data centers, which house the machines needed to train and run AI models, are not without consequences for the surrounding area.
Residents describe “a high-pitched hum, and a sound like that of a plane flying over the house.” Several recount nighttime awakenings linked to these noises, coming from the data centers and also from a nearby gas power plant. Other companies, like Microsoft, are also facing complaints from neighbors about similar noise pollution.
After unsuccessful exchanges with local authorities, three exasperated neighbors filed a lawsuit last June. They are also drawing attention to their situation through videos posted on social media. One neighbor sums up the feeling of some residents: “I think they want to buy the whole neighborhood. It’s just going to become Elon Musk’s sandbox. Elonville.”
A “Goodwill Gesture”?
xAI states it wants to “take being good neighbors to heart,” citing the diversification of its electricity sources and the construction of soundproofing walls. Its subsidiary MZX specifies in a letter to residents that it “needs these properties for business purposes.”
Southaven Mayor Darren Musselwhite, for his part, states that the buyout “is not intended to turn the neighborhood into a company town.” He mentions several goals: to offer homes to some employees and to constitute “a goodwill gesture, from a socially responsible company, towards those who view industrial development near their homes as something negative.” The mayor also considers the noise issue a “top priority,” but according to the source, sensors installed by the city reportedly have not signaled levels exceeding the 70-decibel limit.
Some critics point to a recent study suggesting that sustained exposure to levels as low as 50 decibels, like those measured around the data centers, could cause cardiovascular problems.
One of the neighbors who sued xAI says he “was never an activist,” but has now registered to vote, ahead of the midterm elections. In his view, the case has strengthened bonds within the local community and led him to question how AI is “being forced on everyone.” Another resident, a piano teacher, completely refuses to use artificial intelligence: “I know that if I touch it, the data center will run even louder.”
