I posted this on Facebook on September 3. It lives here too so it’s on the record.
Remember when the Justice Department jumped into the NAACP’s lawsuit and said the NAACP shouldn’t be allowed to sue xAI over the air in Southaven at all?
Looks like they’re going to lose that one.
Last week the government filed a new paper asking the judge to put her answer in writing, and to do it by September 10. The reason they gave is that she already told their lawyers, at a closed meeting in August, that she’s planning to turn them down.
She hasn’t actually ruled. The record of it stays sealed until November, so their account is what the public has for now.
But that doesn’t mean the fight is over.
The government wants the no in writing because a written no is the kind you can appeal. They’ve said that if she doesn’t rule by the 10th, they’ll treat her silence as a no and head to the appeals court anyway. And they’re asking her to freeze the whole case while that plays out.
So the NAACP can win this round and still end up waiting.
Meanwhile the part that matters to people actually breathing that air is still sitting there. The NAACP asked the court to shut the turbines off while the case runs. That hearing was supposed to happen in August. It got pulled, and both sides were told to bring back dates in October instead.
One more thing worth remembering. Back in July, in its own filing, the government wrote that it wants this case dismissed “whether or not xAI has complied” with the law.
Five months into this lawsuit, the fights that have come to a head are about who gets to bring the case. The judge hasn’t ruled on whether the turbines are legal.
If you like facts-first info on all this, consider leaving a tip on Venmo or PayPal – this stuff takes a lot of time to put together. And check out everything I’ve written with citations and receipts at the xAI Files.
Sources
- United States’ motion for entry of a written order no later than September 10, with its memorandum in support, NAACP v. X.AI, No. 3:26-cv-00074 (N.D. Miss., filed September 2, 2026), documents 117 and 118, free on the CourtListener mirror. The whole court file is there too.
- The government’s amended motion to intervene and dismiss, same case, filed July 7, 2026, document 85, with its supporting memorandum.
- The government’s reply in support of that motion, same case, filed July 24, 2026, document 102, the source of the “whether or not xAI has complied” line, on page 5.
- The court’s order of September 2, 2026 restricting access to the transcript of the August 24 status conference, document 119. Docket text only; the order itself is not on the free mirror.
Correction, September 27th, 2026: This update first said no page of the lawsuit had been about whether the turbines are legal. Both sides have argued it in their injunction briefs – the judge just hasn’t ruled on it.
Correction, September 30th, 2026: The sources first credited the “whether or not xAI has complied” line to the government’s July 7th motion. It comes from the government’s July 24th reply, document 102.