People in a Mississippi neighborhood, many of whom dislike a nearby power plant central to Elon Musk ’s artificial intelligence ambitions, have received a stark offer – to sell their houses to his company and make way.

Real estate agents have been going door to door in Southaven, Mississippi , on behalf of xAI, touting a deal to purchase houses as long as the owners agree to not join a lawsuit against the company over the power plant’s noise. (Musk’s AI company officially became SpaceXAI in July and has lately been rebranded as SpaceXSI but to neighbors of the datacenter in Mississippi, it remains xAI.)

This plan could potentially swallow up almost the entire neighborhood of Colonial Hills, on the western flank of Southaven. A realtor told one resident there is a target to purchase 418 homes, with 18 homeowners already agreeing to sell, according to a recording of a conversation heard by the Guardian.…