The suburban silence that Haley had grown used to in his two decades as a resident of Southaven, Mississippi, had, for the last few months, been replaced by a constant whirring, like an airplane hovering over his home, he said.
asserted
he → grow → home
The noise keeping Haley awake was coming from a plant powering
xAI data centers in the area, according to a lawsuit filed in June against the company and its subsidiary, MZX Tech.
uncertain
noise → keep → company
Haley and two other Southaven residents, who live within a mile of the plant, allege in the suit that "near-constant" noise and vibrations are causing negative physical and psychological health effects.
asserted
noise → live → effects
The filing comes amid growing resistance toward data center development, with the majority of Americans opposing local construction of a data center, according to a Gallup poll published earlier this year.
uncertain
majority → come → poll
Similar disputes are playing out across the country, like in Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin, where a lawsuit this month filed by residents alleges a data center emits "unreasonable and excessive noise" onto residents' properties and in Lowell, Massachusetts, where noise from a data center's cooling center "disrupts neighbors' sleep," according to an April suit.
uncertain
noise → play → suit
To power the data centers, developers are building their own plants, sometimes with little warning to residents like Haley.
asserted
developers → power → Haley
Haley reached out to Southaven Mayor Darren Musselwhite about the noise in emails he shared with CBS News.
asserted
he → reach → News
In one last November, he urged Musselwhite to drive through the neighborhood "and take a listen to the constant high pitch noises.
asserted
he → urge → noises
"
"I am aware of the noise and working on a solution with xAI officials," Musselwhite had responded to Haley an hour later.
asserted
Musselwhite → work → Haley
"It is a problem," he said in another email later in the day.
asserted
he → say → day
But soon, another sleepless night rolled around and Haley was emailing the mayor again.
asserted
Haley → roll → mayor
"Anyone else I can reach out to?" Haley wrote to Musselwhite.
asserted
Haley → reach → Musselwhite
"It's almost 4 am and I can hear it from my bed.
asserted
I → hear → bed
The high pitch and roaring combined is full force at this time.
asserted
pitch → combine → time
My ears are ringing.
asserted
ears → ring → ?
I can't live in this.
asserted
I → live → this
How was this ever approved?
asserted
this → approve → ?
"
"I don't care that this is Elon's project"
asserted
this → care → ?
Just north of Southaven, which sits on the Mississippi-Tennessee border, xAI's data center Colossus went online in Memphis in September 2024.
asserted
Colossus → sit → September
The company dubbed it "the world's largest AI supercomputer."
asserted
company → dub → it
By late July 2025, Musk was announcing that another data center, Colossus 2, was set to begin operation in the area within weeks.
asserted
center → announce → weeks
Days later, an announcement popped into the Facebook feeds of Southaven residents: An energy facility that had been dormant for decades will be revived to support xAI's expanding data center operations in the area, Musselwhite said.
asserted
Musselwhite → pop → area
The post was met by a flood of comments, with some lauding the development and others expressing concern about the plant's impact on the environment and strain on local resources.
asserted
some → meet → resources
Meanwhile, Haley started hearing sounds.
asserted
Haley → hear → sounds
"My first thought was somebody's got a leaf blower going all the time," he said.
asserted
he → get → ?
By December, the noise had become a fixture.
asserted
noise → become → December
He started getting headaches, stopped getting sleep and slipped into feelings of hopelessness and depression.
asserted
He → start → hopelessness
The noise was inescapable, he said, and despite his best efforts to drown it out (sleeping with earplugs, getting a box fan for white noise), it continued to drone on.
asserted
it → say → noise
So Haley began speaking up — at city government meetings, on Facebook and through TikTok, where he posts videos of himself measuring the noise with a sound meter.
asserted
he → begin → meter
He later became involved in a grassroots coalition called Safe and Sound, drawing awareness to concerns surrounding xAI's undertakings in the region.
asserted
He → become → region
The "activist" label is one he's reluctantly accepted.
asserted
he → accept → ?
"I've never been into any kind of activism, never really kept up with politics a whole lot," he said.
asserted
he → keep → politics
"I'm just a guy that has a problem with this noise, and started speaking out and trying to raise awareness."
asserted
that → have → awareness
When he emailed Musselwhite about the noise again in December, his message came with a disclosure: "I am not a republican or democrat, I don't care that this is Elon's project.
asserted
this → email → disclosure
I didn't know whose it was when I started complaining about the noise that started in August."
Musselwhite responded a few days later.
"
asserted
Musselwhite → know → August
As I mentioned to you in the public meeting, you seem to be a reasonable person," he said.
asserted
he → mention → meeting
"I will give you some unsolicited advice from an older man, be careful with whom you associate so you don't damage your credibility.
asserted
you → give → credibility
By January, xAI was expanding its footprint with a third data center in Southaven, MACROHARDDR.
asserted
xAI → expand → Southaven
As residents like Haley continued pushing back online and in city meetings, Musselwhite had a new message.
asserted
Musselwhite → continue → message
Southaven, he said in a Facebook post, was "under attack by all who choose to oppose Elon Musk because of his high-profile political stances."
asserted
who → say → stances
…and 39 more, not listed.
The Aporia
