> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://theainewsfiles.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # xAI subsidiary offers to buy Southaven homes in exchange for a release of noise-lawsuit claims - URL: https://theainewsfiles.com/xai-southaven-home-buyout-noise-lawsuit-release/ - Published: 2026-10-28T17:55:36.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-28T17:55:36.000Z - Description: A letter to Southaven households from xAI subsidiary MZX offers to buy homes in exchange for a release of claims over power plant noise. The Guardian reports that a realtor told one resident of a target of 418 homes; xAI did not respond to its questions. - Author: J E Cowie - Tags: News A subsidiary of xAI is offering to buy homes in Southaven, Mississippi. The offer comes with a condition: owners who sell must release their claims over noise from the company's nearby power plant, including any claim through a class-action lawsuit already filed. The Mississippi Free Press reported the offer on 25 September 2026, publishing the letter it had been shown. On 28 October the Guardian reported that real estate agents have been going door to door on xAI's behalf, and that homes have already changed hands. ![Map showing where Southaven is](https://theainewsfiles.com/content/images/2026/10/map_southaven.jpg) Southaven, DeSoto County, United States ## What the letter says The Mississippi Free Press reported that multiple households had received the letter in recent weeks. It is from MZX Tech, the xAI subsidiary named in the lawsuit, and the paper described it as undated. In the passage the paper quoted, the letter reads: > “MZX denies all of the allegations against it. However, because MZX also requires property for its business purposes, MZX, through its real estate broker, is offering to purchase real estate in Southaven in exchange for, among other things, a release of all claims related to the lawsuit.” The Memphis Flyer, which gave the letter's title as “Notice of Noise Nuisance Litigation Related To Southaven Purchase Offers”, quoted the same passage with “proposed business” where the Free Press has “business purposes”. According to the Free Press, anyone who accepts would sign an initial real estate contract and, once the buyout is finalised, a separate release agreement. In the letter's words, as reproduced by the Verge, that second agreement means “releasing possible claims you might have related to the Southaven Plant, including any claims you may have in connection with the Haley action”. The Verge, quoting the letter, reported this line: > “After executing the Release Agreement, you will be unable to recover any damages or other relief from the Haley lawsuit, and you will also be unable to bring claims on your own behalf.” The Memphis Flyer reported that the letter also says: “Accepting a purchase offer and agreeing to the release agreement is fully voluntary.” The Free Press reported that the letter doesn't specify how much residents can expect to receive, and that residents say xAI appears to be basing its offers on appraisal values listed on real estate websites such as Zillow. The residents declined to give their names because of their possible involvement in the litigation. The Guardian put the average house price in the area at about $180,000. ## The numbers: what is documented and what is reported The Guardian says the plan could swallow up almost the entire neighbourhood of Colonial Hills, on the western flank of Southaven. It reports that a realtor told one resident there is a target of 418 homes, with 18 homeowners already agreeing to sell. That comes from a recording of the conversation, which the Guardian heard. xAI did not respond to the Guardian's questions about those numbers or its plans for the neighbourhood. A separate figure comes from public records. The Guardian reports that since 9 October, five neighbourhood homes have been bought by MZX, according to DeSoto County records. The Verge adds that people who rent homes in the area report being forced out, with 60 days' notice, after their landlords agreed to sell. The 418 target is one realtor's reported statement to one resident. The five purchases are a county-records figure. It is worth keeping the two apart. ## What the mayor and residents say Darren Musselwhite, Southaven's mayor, told the Guardian: “The buyout is not intended to be a company city at this point.” He added: “The buyout has multiple purposes which are to provide homes for some employees and a goodwill gesture from a good corporate citizen for those who perceive the industrial development near them as a negative.” The residents quoted by the Guardian are critical of the plant, though Jason Haley acknowledged that the opposition hasn't been universal. Gavin Foust, who lives near Haley, said his elderly neighbours have just agreed to sell, and he predicts more will follow. He said he won't accept the offer himself due to its requirement not to sue. Elizabeth Rose, a piano teacher, lives about two miles from the xAI site. She said she wouldn't take the offer if it was up to her, though her roommate would accept three or four times the value of their home. “And now I get the feeling they are trying to expand the buyout to the entire neighborhood,” she told the Guardian. “It will become Elon Musk’s little playground, basically. Elonville.” ## The lawsuit behind the offer Three residents, Jason Haley, Preston Herrington and Taylor Logsdon, sued xAI and MZX Tech in June. The Memphis Flyer gives the case name as Haley et al v. X.AI Corp. et al, and says it covers claims of private and public nuisance, negligence, negligence per se and negligent infliction of emotional distress. The residents asked the court to order a reduction of noise at the plant and also asked for monetary damages. The Guardian quotes the complaint as citing “near-constant noise, vibrations and other nuisance-level harms”. The Free Press reported that the complaint notes over 10,000 “class members” live in the affected area, which creates a path for other residents to join. Haley, who has owned his home for 20 years and lives about half a mile from the turbines, told the Guardian: “There’s a high-pitched hum and then another sound like an airplane over your house.” In its report, the Free Press quoted the complaint's own description of the noise as “a combination of high-pitched squealing, continuous engine roaring, low-frequency rumbling, and tonal humming or whining”. xAI's side, as reported: the letter says MZX denies all the allegations, and the Guardian reports that xAI denies all claims in the noise lawsuit. The Guardian also quotes xAI as having previously said “we care deeply about being good neighbors”, and reports that the company has varied its power output and built sound-dampening walls. As of its 25 September report, the Free Press had not heard back from xAI about the buyout offers, and the plaintiffs' attorneys declined to comment on the letters, citing the active litigation. On noise levels, Musselwhite said the city's monitors had not detected a breach of a local noise ordinance limit of 70 decibels. ## The wider fight over the plant Alongside the noise case, xAI faces other legal challenges over the same site: - **Turbines and permits.** The Free Press reported that, as of 31 July, 69 unpermitted turbines were housed at the site, according to documents from state regulators. The Guardian says the US Environmental Protection Agency has determined that dozens of temporary turbines have been running without permits required by federal law. The Guardian also reports that the EPA has said enforcing the permit requirements is a matter for the state. - **Health costs.** The Southern Environmental Law Center estimated that emissions from the turbines have caused $44m in annual health costs, according to the Guardian. The Guardian notes that no on-site air pollution monitoring has been done. - **The NAACP case.** The NAACP sued over the turbines in April, accusing xAI of violating the Clean Air Act. The Free Press reported that the Trump administration intervened in June, arguing that xAI's operations in Southaven are vital to national security. The Guardian says the US Department of Justice argued that xAI technology has been used to wage war on Iran. The Verge reports that a federal judge blocked the administration's attempt to dismiss the lawsuit earlier in October. - **The plant's future.** In July, xAI agreed with state regulators to turn the plant into a newer, permanent gas-fired facility by next summer, the Guardian reports. The Guardian says this should lessen the noise from the temporary turbines, but opponents remain wary. The site itself has a short public history. DeSoto County News reported on 18 July 2025 that public records showed MZX Tech LLC, a Wyoming-based affiliate of xAI, had completed the purchase of 114.49 acres at 2875 Stanton Road South in Southaven. It described the property as a former Duke Energy site. ## What the offer amounts to The letter's own terms are clear. A buyout is being offered, and the release of claims is part of what the homeowner agrees to. The realtor and the mayor say the homes will house xAI staff, and the mayor also calls the buyout a goodwill gesture from a good corporate citizen. xAI did not respond to the Guardian's questions about the 418 figure or its plans for the neighbourhood. Foust, who won't sell, put it differently: “Why push people out?” ## Sources Bakken, B. (2025) 'xAI buys Southaven property', DeSoto County News, 18 July 2025, available at: [https://desotocountynews.com/desoto-county-news/xai-buys-southaven-property/](https://desotocountynews.com/desoto-county-news/xai-buys-southaven-property/?ref=theainewsfiles.com) (Accessed: 28 October 2026). Ireland, I. (2026) 'xAI Moves to Buy Out Southaven Residents Who Agree Not to Sue It Over Power Plant Noise, Letter Shows', Mississippi Free Press, 25 September 2026, available at: [https://www.mississippifreepress.org/xai-moves-to-buy-out-southaven-residents-who-agree-not-to-sue-it-over-power-plant-noise-letter-shows/](https://www.mississippifreepress.org/xai-moves-to-buy-out-southaven-residents-who-agree-not-to-sue-it-over-power-plant-noise-letter-shows/?ref=theainewsfiles.com) (Accessed: 28 October 2026). Memphis Flyer (2026) 'SpaceXAI Offers to Buy Southaven Homes to Help Settle Suit', Memphis Flyer, 28 September 2026, available at: [https://www.memphisflyer.com/spacexai-offers-to-buy-southaven-homes-to-help-settle-suit/](https://www.memphisflyer.com/spacexai-offers-to-buy-southaven-homes-to-help-settle-suit/?ref=theainewsfiles.com) (Accessed: 28 October 2026). Roth, E. (2026) 'xAI is buying out homeowners who promise not to sue over data center noise', The Verge, 28 October 2026, available at: [https://www.theverge.com/ai-artificial-intelligence/1020596/xai-mississippi-neighborhood-data-center-lawsuit](https://www.theverge.com/ai-artificial-intelligence/1020596/xai-mississippi-neighborhood-data-center-lawsuit?ref=theainewsfiles.com) (Accessed: 28 October 2026). The Guardian (2026) '‘Elonville’: US residents say Musk’s xAI offered to buy homes if they don’t sue over datacenter noise', The Guardian, 28 October 2026, available at: [https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/oct/28/datacenter-noise-lawsuit-elon-musk-mississippi](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/oct/28/datacenter-noise-lawsuit-elon-musk-mississippi?ref=theainewsfiles.com) (Accessed: 28 October 2026). ## Picture credits - Top picture: Elon Musk at the US Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, April 2022\. Photo: U.S. Air Force / Trevor Cokley, Public domain ([source](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Elon%5FMusk%5FColorado%5F2022%5F%28cropped2%29.jpg?ref=theainewsfiles.com)) - Map: drawn from [Natural Earth](https://www.naturalearthdata.com/?ref=theainewsfiles.com) (public domain) and [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q768007?ref=theainewsfiles.com).