xAI Unit Reportedly Targets 418 Southaven Homes; 18 Owners Agreed

A real estate agent told a Southaven, Mississippi, resident that xAI subsidiary MZX Tech LLC is targeting 418 homes in the Colonial Hills neighborhood and that 18 owners have already agreed to sell, according to a recording heard by the Guardian on Oct. 28 and relayed by The Next Web and IBTimes.

This extends the buyout offer Voltgrid reported on Oct. 28, which carried no home count. Neither figure comes from the company: xAI did not confirm the 418 homes or the 18 sellers, and the numbers rest on the agent's remark. County records cited by the Guardian show MZX has bought five homes in the area since Oct. 9, The Next Web reported.

What the Southaven Buyout Offer Requires

The letters come through Burch Realty Group, which acts for MZX. Sellers sign a real estate contract and a release of "all claims," and the letter warns they could not recover anything from the Haley lawsuit afterward. MZX says in the letter that it "denies all of the allegations" but "requires property for its business purposes." It does not state a price. Residents told the Mississippi Free Press that offers appeared to track Zillow estimates, and the Guardian put average local home prices at about $180,000.

Southaven Mayor Darren Musselwhite supports the buyouts. He told the Guardian they serve to provide homes for some employees and are a goodwill gesture, and that city monitors have not recorded noise above the local 70-decibel limit. IBTimes reported he called the program a "parallel approach" to cutting noise and said "nobody is being forced."

Why 418 Homes Matter for the Plant

The plant runs 69 temporary gas turbines, a count the Mississippi Free Press gave as of July 31. The plaintiffs in the Haley suit, Jason Haley, Preston Herrington and Taylor Logsdon, say more than 10,000 people live in the affected area. At 418 homes, a buyout would cover only a slice of that area, but each release takes a potential class member out of the case. Renters are a gap: Mississippi Today, cited by IBTimes, reported that renters occupy between one-third and two-thirds of homes in the proposed class neighborhoods, and one tenant said her landlord's acceptance gave her 60 days to leave.

The buyout also sits next to other exposure at the same sites. As Voltgrid reported, Mississippi regulators are weighing a $6.1 million stormwater claim against MZX over construction at three sites.

What Is Not Confirmed Yet

The Next Web reported that the plaintiffs have dropped SpaceX as a defendant and that xAI and MZX have moved to dismiss part of the case. A first conference on class status was scheduled for Oct. 29 in Oxford. We found no published account of what happened there, and no ruling on class certification. The company has not said what it intends to do with the homes, how many it wants to buy or what it is paying.