Video: We caught Elon Musk's AI company flouting EPA rules using a thermal drone 65%

By Evan Simon/Floodlight49%

3/6/2026, 9:07:29 AM

BS Summary: This article contains 15 faulty reasoning types, including Recency Bias, Post Hoc (False Cause), and Unattributed Quote, with Negativity Bias as the most egregious example at 40.3% saturation with 64 hits. Analysis detected 382 faulty-reasoning hits from 159 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 51.3% and a BS Rank of 65% (10,462 of 29,795 articles). This article is worse (more manipulative) than 64.90% of the article peer group.

Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company, xAI, is continuing to fuel its data centers with unpermitted gas turbines, according to a Floodlight visual investigation. 
Thermal drone footage captured in late January 2026, shows xAI running the unpermitted turbines at its custom built powerplant in Southaven, Miss., nearly two weeks after an Environmental Protection Agency ruling reiterated that doing so requires a state permit in advance. 
The ad hoc gas plant's sole task is to power the datacenter behind Grok and is part of an increasing reliance among AI companies on fossil fuels. 
Read the full investigation in our original story, co-published with The Guardian: 
Curious how we pulled off this project? 
Read our Q&A with reporter Evan Simon: 
This investigation took months of reporting and specialized equipment. 
Want to support work like this? 
Make a donation to Floodlight and help us continue investigations like this one. 
Article reasoning-pattern comparisonThis article: 0.0%Evan Simon/Floodlight: 3.5%Floodlight: 3.2%Confirmation Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Evan Simon/Floodlight: 0.4%Floodlight: 0.6%Anchoring Bias0.0%This article: 17.0%Evan Simon/Floodlight: 2.0%Floodlight: 1.9%Availability Heuristic17.0%This article: 17.0%Evan Simon/Floodlight: 0.6%Floodlight: 0.5%Representativeness Heuristic17.0%This article: 0.0%Evan Simon/Floodlight: 0.4%Floodlight: 0.3%Hindsight Bias0.0%This article: 5.7%Evan Simon/Floodlight: 1.2%Floodlight: 1.2%Overconfidence Bias5.7%This article: 8.8%Evan Simon/Floodlight: 9.1%Floodlight: 6.4%Framing Effect8.8%This article: 8.2%Evan Simon/Floodlight: 1.0%Floodlight: 0.6%Loss Aversion8.2%This article: 0.0%Evan Simon/Floodlight: 0.5%Floodlight: 0.3%Status Quo Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Evan Simon/Floodlight: 0.1%Floodlight: 0.2%Sunk Cost Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Evan Simon/Floodlight: 0.4%Floodlight: 1.0%Optimism Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Evan Simon/Floodlight: 2.7%Floodlight: 1.3%Pessimism Bias0.0%This article: 40.3%Evan Simon/Floodlight: 7.1%Floodlight: 7.9%Negativity Bias40.3%This article: 0.0%Evan Simon/Floodlight: 1.3%Floodlight: 2.5%Self-Serving Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Evan Simon/Floodlight: 0.5%Floodlight: 0.5%Fundamental Attribution Error0.0%This article: 0.0%Evan Simon/Floodlight: 0.1%Floodlight: 0.1%Actor-Observer Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Evan Simon/Floodlight: 0.2%Floodlight: 0.3%In-Group Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Evan Simon/Floodlight: 0.1%Floodlight: 0.1%Out-Group Homogeneity Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Evan Simon/Floodlight: 0.6%Floodlight: 0.4%Halo Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Evan Simon/Floodlight: 0.0%Floodlight: 0.0%Horn Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Evan Simon/Floodlight: 0.0%Floodlight: 0.0%Dunning-Kruger Effect0.0%This article: 25.8%Evan Simon/Floodlight: 0.4%Floodlight: 0.5%Recency Bias25.8%This article: 0.0%Evan Simon/Floodlight: 0.2%Floodlight: 0.1%Primacy Effect0.0%This article: 0.0%Evan Simon/Floodlight: 0.0%Floodlight: 0.0%Blind-Spot Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Evan Simon/Floodlight: 0.4%Floodlight: 0.5%Ad Hominem0.0%This article: 0.0%Evan Simon/Floodlight: 0.0%Floodlight: 0.1%Straw Man0.0%This article: 5.7%Evan Simon/Floodlight: 2.4%Floodlight: 2.7%Appeal to Authority5.7%This article: 0.0%Evan Simon/Floodlight: 0.4%Floodlight: 0.5%False Dilemma0.0%This article: 0.0%Evan Simon/Floodlight: 0.9%Floodlight: 0.5%Slippery Slope0.0%This article: 0.0%Evan Simon/Floodlight: 0.1%Floodlight: 0.1%Circular Reasoning0.0%This article: 17.0%Evan Simon/Floodlight: 3.0%Floodlight: 2.0%Hasty Generalization17.0%This article: 0.0%Evan Simon/Floodlight: 0.2%Floodlight: 0.1%Red Herring0.0%This article: 0.0%Evan Simon/Floodlight: 0.4%Floodlight: 0.3%Bandwagon0.0%This article: 8.2%Evan Simon/Floodlight: 3.8%Floodlight: 3.9%Appeal to Emotion8.2%This article: 0.0%Evan Simon/Floodlight: 0.9%Floodlight: 0.5%Begging the Question0.0%This article: 25.8%Evan Simon/Floodlight: 0.4%Floodlight: 1.3%Post Hoc (False Cause)25.8%This article: 0.0%Evan Simon/Floodlight: 0.0%Floodlight: 0.1%Tu Quoque0.0%This article: 0.0%Evan Simon/Floodlight: 0.7%Floodlight: 0.5%Burden of Proof0.0%This article: 0.0%Evan Simon/Floodlight: 0.2%Floodlight: 0.2%Appeal to Nature0.0%This article: 0.0%Evan Simon/Floodlight: 0.2%Floodlight: 0.2%Composition/Division0.0%This article: 8.8%Evan Simon/Floodlight: 1.4%Floodlight: 1.4%Anecdotal8.8%This article: 0.0%Evan Simon/Floodlight: 0.0%Floodlight: 0.0%No True Scotsman0.0%This article: 0.0%Evan Simon/Floodlight: 0.5%Floodlight: 0.6%Ambiguity (Equivocation)0.0%This article: 0.0%Evan Simon/Floodlight: 0.0%Floodlight: 0.0%Gambler’s Fallacy0.0%This article: 0.0%Evan Simon/Floodlight: 0.1%Floodlight: 0.0%Middle Ground0.0%This article: 0.0%Evan Simon/Floodlight: 0.2%Floodlight: 0.1%Personal Incredulity0.0%This article: 0.0%Evan Simon/Floodlight: 0.1%Floodlight: 0.2%Special Pleading0.0%This article: 0.0%Evan Simon/Floodlight: 0.0%Floodlight: 0.1%Genetic Fallacy0.0%This article: 25.8%Evan Simon/Floodlight: 0.3%Floodlight: 0.4%Unattributed Quote25.8%This article: 0.0%Evan Simon/Floodlight: 0.3%Floodlight: 0.2%Quote-first Misdirection0.0%This article: 14.5%Evan Simon/Floodlight: 2.6%Floodlight: 1.5%Biased Writer Voice14.5%This article: 0.0%Evan Simon/Floodlight: 0.5%Floodlight: 0.4%Indoctrination0.0%This article: 0.0%Evan Simon/Floodlight: 0.9%Floodlight: 0.5%Politically Left Leaning Bias0.0%This article: 0.0%Evan Simon/Floodlight: 0.2%Floodlight: 0.1%Politically Right Leaning Bias0.0%This article: 11.9%Evan Simon/Floodlight: 0.4%Floodlight: 0.3%Attempt to Sell a Product or S…11.9%

159 words analyzed.

Speakers

No attributed speakers were identified in this analysis.

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Analysis

Hover over highlighted words in the article to view the associated bias or fallacy analysis.