xAI is buying out homeowners who promise not to sue over data center noise

<figure> <img alt="A photo of xAI’s Southaven, Mississippi data center" data-caption="xAI’s Southaven, Mississippi data center. | Photo by Brandon Dill / AFP via Getty Images" data-portal-copyright="Photo by Brandon Dill / AFP via Getty Images" data-has-syndication-rights="1" src="https://platform.theverge.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/10/gettyimages-2289399619.jpg?quality=90&#038;strip=all&#038;crop=0,0,100,100" /> <figcaption> xAI’s Southaven, Mississippi data center. | Photo by Brandon Dill / AFP via Getty Images </figcaption> </figure> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">A subsidiary of Elon Musk's xAI is offering to buy up homes in a Mississippi neighborhood, as long as residents don't join a lawsuit targeting the company's nearby data center and power plant, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/oct/28/datacenter-noise-lawsuit-elon-musk-mississippi">according to a report from <em>The Guardian</em></a>. A realtor going door-to-door in the Southaven neighborhood reportedly told one resident that xAI plans to purchase 418 homes, adding that 18 homeowners already have plans to sell. People who rent homes in the area report <a href="https://wreg.com/news/local/xai-memphis/spacexai-data-center-expansion-in-southaven-forces-renters-out/">they're already being forced out</a>, with 60 days' notice after their landlords agreed to sell.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">A recent report from the <a href="https://www.mississippifreepress.org/xai-moves-to-buy-out-southaven-residents-who-agree-not-to-sue-it-over-power-plant-noise-letter-shows/"><em>Mississippi Free Press</em></a> includes a letter received by several households rec …</p> <p><a href="https://www.theverge.com/ai-artificial-intelligence/1020596/xai-mississippi-neighborhood-data-center-lawsuit">Read the full story at The Verge.</a></p>