A subsidiary of Elon Musk’s xAI is offering to buy homes in a Southaven, Mississippi, neighborhood from owners who agree not to join a lawsuit over noise from a nearby power plant, The Guardian reported Wednesday. The Verge relayed the report. According to a recording the Guardian heard, a realtor told one resident the target is 418 homes, with 18 owners already agreeing to sell. xAI did not respond to the Guardian’s questions about those numbers. The Guardian said xAI has previously said it intends to be a good neighbor and that it denies all claims in the lawsuit. The Guardian said the company officially became SpaceXAI in July and has lately been rebranded SpaceXSI, though neighbors still call it xAI.
The offers were earlier reported by the Mississippi Free Press and Mississippi Today. A letter to residents says MZX “denies all of the allegations against it” but “requires property for its business purposes,” and is offering to buy property in exchange for “a release of all claims related to the lawsuit.” Sellers who sign the release could not recover damages from the lawsuit or bring claims on their own, the letter says. The Free Press reported the letter does not state prices and that residents said offers appear to track online appraisal values. xAI did not respond to the Free Press.
Three residents filed the lawsuit, Haley et al. v. X.AI Corp. and MZX Tech, in June, citing “near-constant noise, vibrations and other nuisance-level harms.” They are asking the court to let it proceed as a class action. Lawyers for the plaintiffs published an FAQ saying no court has examined or approved the buyout offers, that they are not involved in them, and that the release terms have not been made public.
The Guardian reported that MZX has bought five neighborhood homes since Oct. 9, according to DeSoto County records. Southaven Mayor Darren Musselwhite told the Guardian the buyout serves several purposes, including housing for some employees and a goodwill gesture, and that city monitors had not detected a breach of the local 70-decibel noise limit. Mississippi Today reported that he has called the buyouts voluntary. The Verge said renters in the area report being given 60 days’ notice after their landlords agreed to sell. The Verge did not attribute that to a named source; Mississippi Today reported on Oct. 15 that one renter, Danielle Dillard, said her landlord took a buyout and told her she had 60 days to move out.
The Verge noted separate pressure on xAI, including an NAACP lawsuit over unpermitted turbines in Southaven and a 135-day pause on Memphis data center construction adopted last week.
Sources
- The Guardian (Oliver Milman): Elonville: US residents say Musk’s xAI offered to buy homes if they don’t sue over datacenter noise (October 28, 2026)
- The Verge (Emma Roth): xAI is buying out homeowners who promise not to sue over data center noise (October 28, 2026)
- Mississippi Free Press (Illan Ireland): xAI Moves to Buy Out Southaven Residents Who Agree Not to Sue It Over Power Plant Noise (September 25, 2026)
- Mississippi Today: Musk company buying Southaven homes (October 15, 2026)
- Plaintiffs’ counsel FAQ: Home Buyout Offers and the xAI Lawsuit (October 2026)