The Big Model has Become a Warfare Weapon: US Military Qualifies xAI Data Center as "Arsenal" to Thwart Environmental Lawsuit

According to MotionSense Beating Monitor, the U.S. Department of Justice has filed a motion with the Mississippi federal court, seeking intervention and requesting the dismissal of the NAACP civil rights organization's environmental lawsuit against the xAI Data Center. In testimony, the Department of Justice and the Department of Defense have for the first time confirmed that the U.S. military has deployed a customized version of the Grok Gov large model in a classified military network and used it to plan actual military strike missions against Iran. The federal government believes that the computing power provided by the data center is equivalent to a modern military manufacturing plant, and cutting off the power supply would jeopardize national security and military defense.

The lawsuit stems from xAI's unauthorized operation of multiple portable natural gas turbines for off-grid power generation at the Colossus 2 Data Center, causing severe pollution in the surrounding African American community. In order to protect the power supply needed for Grok's normal operation, the Department of Justice not only supports xAI's claim that the portable gas turbines are temporary facilities exempt from permitting requirements but also introduces a new legal defense logic. This logic states that if the executive branch opposes the lawsuit, private entities or citizens have no right to environmental protection under the citizen suit provision of the Clean Air Act. Environmental and civil rights lawyers point out that the Department of Justice's logic represents an excessive expansion of executive branch power, aiming to use national security as a cover to deprive communities of legal weapons to combat corporate pollution.

The U.S. military's deep reliance on commercial AI is a fundamental reason for the Department of Justice's strong intervention. The Pentagon entered into a $200 million government version Grok procurement contract with xAI in 2025. Cameron Stanley, the Chief Digital and AI Officer of the Department of Defense, confirmed that the customized Grok Gov has been deployed as part of the Maven intelligence system in a classified network. During the U.S.-Iran conflict in February 2026, the Maven system targeted over 2000 objectives with more than 2000 munitions within 96 hours. The military's tactical dependence is prompting the Department of Justice to invoke national security clauses to exempt xAI's supply chain violations.