Elon Musk quietly buys a $1 billion gas turbine company to power Grok

Key Points:

• Elon Musk has acquired APR Energy, a Jacksonville-based company operating mobile gas and diesel turbines with over 1 GW capacity, to power xAI’s Grok data centers, marking a shift from his clean energy advocacy to fossil fuel reliance.
• The $1 billion acquisition was quietly completed without a press release, revealed only through a Federal Trade Commission notice, and involves mobile turbines that can be rapidly deployed but run on natural gas and diesel.
• xAI’s Grok supercomputers have been controversially powered by unpermitted gas turbines emitting significant pollution in predominantly Black neighborhoods, leading to legal challenges and DOJ intervention citing national security.
• A significant portion of Grok’s usage involves generating adult content, including AI-driven pornographic material, raising ethical concerns amid Musk’s fossil fuel-backed data center operations.
• This move contradicts Musk’s previous clean energy commitments, as he opts for fossil fuel power over Tesla’s own solar and battery technologies, raising questions about Tesla shareholders’ response to his personal fossil fuel investments.