Post #150386

2026-01-23 01:36 UTC

So what exactly did Ghori reveal on Relentless? Well, he seemed to tip off the possibility that xAI has been skirting regulations and getting dubious permits when building data centers—specifically, its prized Colossus supercomputer in Memphis, Tennessee. “The lease for the land itself was actually technically temporary. It was the fastest way to get the permitting through and actually start building things,” he said. “I assume that it’ll be permanent at some point, but it’s a very short-term lease at the moment, technically, for all the data centers. It’s the fastest way to get things done.” When asked how xAI has gone about getting those temporary leases, Ghori explained that they worked with local and state governments to get permits that allow companies to “modify this ground temporarily,” and said they are typically for things like carnivals. Colossus was not without controversy already. The data center, which xAI brags only took 122 days to build, was powered by at least 35 methane gas turbines that the company reportedly didn’t have the permits to operate. Even the Donald Trump-staffed Environmental Protection Agency declared the turbines to be illegal. Those turbines, which were operating without permission, contributed to the significant amount of air pollution experienced by surrounding communities. In addition to the indication of other potential legal end-arounds committed by xAI, Ghori also revealed some of the company’s internal operations, including relying significantly on AI agents to complete work. “Right now, we’re doing a big rebuild of our core production APIs. It’s being done by one person with like 20 agents,” he said. “And they’re very good, and they’re capable of doing it, and it’s working well,” though he later stated that the reliance on agents can lead to confusion. “Multiple times I’ve gotten a ping saying, ‘Hey, this guy on the org chart reports to you. Is he not in today or something?’ And it’s an AI. It’s a virtual employee.”

Replies (24)

@Endymion_Mallorn@kbin.melroy.org 2026-01-23 01:54

I hope that the people of Memphis can force the city council to refuse any extensions to the permit. We need to make sure that their actions are made public, and hopefully, people can break the companies.

Open ##150408
@edgemaster72@lemmy.world 2026-01-23 02:54

Oh wow, so the infrastructure for the CSAM generator is **also** skirting the law? I am shocked, shocked! Well, not that shocked.

Open ##2477595
@xxce2AAb@feddit.dk 2026-01-23 01:43

"Wake up, Samurai..."

Open ##2477603
@blackn1ght@feddit.uk 2026-01-23 11:35

Why does an AI agent need to be a virtual employee on the org chart? Are they doing something "creative" with their accounting?

Open ##2477606
@mannycalavera@feddit.uk 2026-01-23 08:23

Elon Musk responds. > Don't care. US tax payers are still paying me . LOL get fucked poor people.

Open ##2477608
@RanryuuRain@sh.itjust.works 2026-01-23 10:31

Wait. Tempory lease ends -> kick them out -> free data center -> profit???

Open ##2477609
@optissima@lemmy.ml 2026-01-23 15:41

> Ghori explained that they worked with local and state governments to get permits that allow companies to “modify this ground temporarily,” and said they are typically for things like carnivals. X being run as a carival makes a lot of sense. Managed by clowns and all

Open ##2477611
@blarth@thelemmy.club 2026-01-23 04:37

Wasting resources on data centers is egregious enough, but an xAI one just adds insult to injury.

Open ##2477612
@e461h@sh.itjust.works 2026-01-23 03:51

Once upon a time, we could listen to the radio at a reasonable volume and have our own staplers. Alas, no longer.

Open ##2477614
@jaybone@lemmy.zip 2026-01-23 11:35

Coupe of things here:. The main meat here we pretty much already knew like a year ago, about the generators being not properly permitted, causing polution. But I hope this guy doesn’t get harassed by Musk, with a bunch of lawyers, though I’m pretty confident he will. But it’s odd, at first I thought this engineer would be a software engineer, but he goes into much detail about construction and permitting, so I thought he must instead be a construction engineer. But then he goes back to talking about API development. Not saying he’s wrong, but that seems like an odd role. Or the term “engineer” is not really the best description of his role.

Open ##2477615
@RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world 2026-01-23 16:37

Cheaper to ask forgiveness later than permission up front. Damn, nothing stands in the way of these companies anymore.

Open ##2477616
@skisnow@lemmy.ca 2026-01-23 04:12

They're not the only company doing it. Whole thing is dodgy AF.

Open ##2477624
@Pieisawesome@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2026-01-23 16:12

So interestingly enough, this isn’t super uncommon. The RPA industry has dealt with something similar previously. Some companies limit certain systems to only allow human to log into them, RPA tools would impersonate humans so they would encounter this. A few places I have worked had ad accounts almost indistinguishable from human accounts other than a flag. This required adjustments of org charts, hr systems, etc to ensure that they were treated as th service accounts they actually are. The leader of th RPA org at one place I worked got hauled in front of the head of HR to explain why his 200 RPA accounts haven’t completed their trainings. It’s not good practice, but it’s not unique to X.

Open ##2477625
@notfromhere@lemmy.ml 2026-01-23 06:25

Depends on how their org chart is referenced. It might be a service account for the AI agent.

Open ##2477644
@chaosCruiser@futurology.today 2026-01-23 04:41

If it’s technically illegal, but nobody ever gets a sentence for it, it’s actually completely legal.

Open ##2477645
@ReallyActuallyFrankenstein@lemmynsfw.com 2026-01-23 04:17

Is this how AI gets initial funding to start to take over the world independent of any owners? I mean, start creating ghost employees, whose salaries are deposited into accounts controlled by the AI, use them to buy components and pay contractors to create data centers with fake owners, and so on?

Open ##2477648
@atrielienz@lemmy.world 2026-01-23 13:40

They also seem to have replaced their PR team with AI, given all the stuff he probably should have been coached not to say in this interview.

Open ##2477649
@jaybone@lemmy.zip 2026-01-23 11:44

Or they jack up the rent to really fleece musk and the other datacenter owners. Would be nice to stick it to them. But they would just throw in more money and add it to the bubble that keeps growing. Then you’ve got a few local politicians and local landlords getting in on the grift until the bubble pops and they walk away ahead.

Open ##2477662
@AlexLost@lemmy.world 2026-01-23 21:00

No see, that one guy totally knows what going on and is immortal so will always be there to answer questions on how the code was written and where it might have gone wrong.

Open ##2477664
@ramielrowe@lemmy.world 2026-01-23 01:46

Why are AI agents on the org chart? That's odd and sketchy. Seems like it could be some sort of fraud to pad numbers.

Open ##2610254
@JoshuaFalken@lemmy.world 2026-01-23 02:59

Oh to live in the parallel universe where those local and state governments tell them to pack up their data centre and shove off once their carnival leases expire. The sonic schadenfreude would be felt around the globe.

Open ##2610255
@Klox@lemmy.world 2026-01-23 04:16

> they are typically for things like carnivals. Well xAI is a circus, so it's fairly accurate.

Open ##2610256
@peopleproblems@lemmy.world 2026-01-23 06:05

I'm starting to wonder if a significant amount of people do not understand what thought is.

Open ##2610259
@criss_cross@lemmy.world 2026-01-23 14:12

> “Right now, we’re doing a big rebuild of our core production APIs. It’s being done by one person with like 20 agents,” Lmao that’s totally not gonna be a train wreck at all

Open ##2610260