Submitted 1 month ago by Pro@programming.dev to technology@lemmy.world
https://www.desmog.com/2025/06/13/xai-data-centre-emits-plumes-of-pollution-new-video-shows/
A massive data center at xAI’s controversial site in Memphis, Tennessee is emitting huge plumes of pollution, according to footage recorded by an environmental watchdog group.
How could we have known, that putting the people making the profit in charge of regulation would lead to this!? /s
The linked video is a bit unclear to me. The don’t explain the modes well. Mostly it seems to just show heat. According to the description it’s a Teledyne FLIR G620, which should be able to detect Methane and other VOCs. But it’s not clear to me how we are supposed to distinguish hot rising CO2 and H2O from any potentially leaking Methane, in those pictures.
Video in question www.youtube.com/watch?v=4prazMVylRs
It really does just look like heat dissipation from rooftop heat exchangers, not gasses out of an exhaust. I’m sure that building uses (and wastes) an ungodly amount of power, but I’d imagine it’s grid-tied, and therefore any noxious gases are being generated elsewhere (with the exception of on-site backup generators).
I’m all for telling AI to fuck off, but let’s at least have the facts straight.
They do actually burn gas locally, I wasn’t trying to dispute that part. It has become a political discussion in Memphis. Apparently they wanted to start operations on turbines before the grid access was ready.
I don’t know if they got the substation built, but last year they weren’t able to get enough power from the grid, so installed 7kw worth of generators to cover their needs
Came here to also question this. “To the naked eye the pollution is not visible.” Is that because we’re just looking at heat in an IR camera? I know everybody hates Elon Musk but we also hate misinformation and love truth, right? I mean, cuz we’re the good guys… riiiight?
Yea ngl that was my first question. This really does seem like it’s either grouping them together, or purely heat.
That’s what I’m wondering as well, how do we differentiate cooling towers and the heat from those vs actual exhaust emissions…
This article and what they are doing feels fishy, for a few reasons.
Data centers usually have steam plumes, but only with older cooling systems, newer designs dont vent off nearly as much water vapor and even newer designs have liquid-to-chip, and im not sure how those vent the heat, but its definitly not venting their treated coolant+water. (Because that would be dumb and expensive, but that seems to be the flavor of the day, so lets roll with that)
If the building was not designed by a monkey, then this is likely just a generator test. I want to put the emphasis on “TEST” because a data center only runs its very inefficent generators when utility power fails. (They will generate exaust, but usually its diesle generators or something with cheap fuel). Fancy gas turbines sounds very “extra” because the reason that deisle generators are used is that they can turn on and hold the load of the building quickly (and the building should have a battery bank to hold that for exactly what ever that time is)
To me, one of two things is wrong, either the camera is just imaging thermals and thats a normal steam plume and they are being sensationalist. OR (and more likely answer). Musk is building some bespoke data center in the middle of bum-fuck nowhere without the local infrastructure to support it and is doing all sorts of expensive additions to make it do what it would be able to if it was clustered with other data centers that share utilitites.
It’s not fishy, you are just uninformed. They are powering the datacenter with turbines fueled by natural gas. To top it all off, they have approval to run only a handful of turbines (after not even seeking approval in the first place, i.e. running them illegally), but they are running a ton of them.
You misconstru uninformed for skeptical, an eco-themed news site will have a bias against anything related to data centers, supreme leader musk, or burning hydrocarbons. So apologies if I took the article with a grain of salt.
We dont have to guess, it is literally powered by these generators becuase the local infrastructure cannot support it.
this should be a highlighted comment or smth.
being sensationalist. OR (and more likely answer). Musk is building some bespoke data center in the middle of bum-fuck nowhere without the local infrastructure to support it
It’s exactly what’s been reporting in several pieces from 404 Media, and others. Namely xAI does NOT have the infrastructure BUT Musk has a history (Tesla, SpaceX, etc) of cutting corners. He “gets shit done” like no one else not because he’s particularly smart or efficiency … but because he breaks the law, as simple as that.
You’e considering Memphis the middle of nowhere?
Compared to the data center sprawl in other areas, yes. As others have pointed out, this appears to be a gross over-utilizarion of the local utilities and is just burning shit to make the building work where noone is paying attention to it.
Is this the woke-free AI they want?
its the AI conscieness behind musk.
When building a data center why wouldn’t you secure the required electricity and water before committing to a site?
The power companies demanded guarantees, so they wouldn’t be on the hook for investing in infrastructure and power generation if the whole hype disappeared the month. Tech bros then went “how can we do it quick and dirty when we can’t get others to pay for it?”
Why would capitalists give a fuck about any constraint? We’ve conditioned them for a century to believe they can do anything they want with impunity.
Typically.
This is Musk’s AI project though, he’s not going to wait to secure power or permits or environmental impact studies or anything like that…
Did Jenson deliver the G100s? Grab some generators and get pumping.
You do. But you also plan in the case the surrounding infrastructure fails.
But more to the point, in some cases it is better to produce (parto of) your own electricity (where better means cheaper) than buy it on the market. It is not really common but is doable.
I saw the headlineand thought, bet this is the one where I live… Correct
pollution pollution pollution pollution pollution
WHAT THE FUCK IS “POLLUTION”!?
including large volumes of unburned methane
Ooooh. Yeah, that’s bad. Methane is a pretty bad greenhouse gas.
“Nonono! It’s, uuh… it’s like fairy dust, but from the AI!”
This is a heat signature. Obviously heat is released. But why would it release pollution?
“But through the lens of Wilson’s optical gas imaging camera, a scientific instrument that is used within the oil and gas industry and by regulators to detect methane emissions, the pollution becomes readily apparent. Huge, billowing plumes of pollution, including large volumes of unburned methane, rise into the atmosphere and drift off-site.”
Have you read the article at all?
I did read that now. But why would it release methane at all? They are cooling computers.
the heat signature is showing the hot methane billowing out of the generators he’s running to power grok.
please don’t use grok.
As someone who’s around Memphis often, we are having major pollution issues from these generators. There have been several days we have had terrible smog issues lately. Nobody here wants these generators around. They were installed despite fierce opposition from the locals. It’s absolutely horrible.
I thought they where using commercial off the shelf generators?
They are using portable generators only intended for short term usage in an emergency. One of the tradeoffs of being portable is that the generators are unable to combust the natural gas “cleanly”(under sufficient temperature and with enough oxygen, resulting in this ideal reaction: CH4 + 2 O2 -> 2 H2O + CO2), leading to incomplete reactions releasing many pollutants, most of which are at least suspected of causing cancer. This is acceptable in an emergency but not if some narcist runs them in a population center without proper permission to feed his horribly inefficient model in an attempt to keep up with other AI labs.
As someone studying mechanical engineer I’m well aware of the process. I’m also well aware that all commercial generators must abide by environmental regulations.
A great video on the issue:
Quote from the video, “You can smell it as well.” Refering to the turbine opetation.
kibiz0r@midwest.social 1 month ago
Polluting the sky in order to pollute the internet 👌
Tim_Bisley@piefed.social 1 month ago
Its apparent that the health of the internet has a direct impact on the health of society.
anzo@programming.dev 5 weeks ago
Now that’s rad. Been consuming leftist niche internet for a while, never read such connection. You’re a poet. Thanks!
outhouseperilous@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 weeks ago
This is like some ‘evangellion’ shit, where all iur collevtive civilizational resources are being used to do A Bad Thing
And also add tits to stuff.