16:17Machine-translated from Azerbaijani by AIRead in Azerbaijani
Amazon Pledges $1 Billion to Communities Hosting Data Centers
Amazon has made new public commitments as opposition to the construction of data centers for artificial intelligence grows. Amazon Web Services chief Matt Garman said Friday that halting such projects could cause long-term harm to the US economy and national security. More than 100 proposals to temporarily halt data center construction are currently under consideration across the country.
Under a plan called the “Data Center Commitment,” the company is pledging to invest $1 billion (approximately 1.7 billion manats) over the next 5 years in communities where its data centers are located. The money will fund free community college programs and vocational training. Work will also be carried out to improve energy efficiency in schools, homes and public buildings. Amazon also plans to prevent increases in local electricity rates and create new jobs. Amazon has also announced that it no longer uses nondisclosure agreements, or NDAs, with local authorities and government agencies. Such agreements restricted officials from telling the public how much energy and water a project would use or even which company was building the facility. The company’s head of legal affairs, David Zapolsky, called the previous confidentiality practice an old industry habit and said it was no longer needed. The number of states seeking to ban confidentiality agreements is also growing. Leaders in Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and Delaware have signed executive orders on the matter. Bans have also been discussed in New York, New Jersey, Indiana and Ohio. Members of both parties in Congress have introduced a bill called the “No Secrets for Data Centers Act.” Representative Jamie Raskin has requested information from Amazon, Google, Meta and Oracle about their NDAs. Confidentiality rules have caused problems in several projects. In Tucson, Arizona, local officials were unable to tell the public that Amazon was behind a controversial facility because of an NDA. The company later withdrew from the project. It has also been alleged that some questions about a campus in South Bend, Indiana, involving an investment of $13 billion (approximately 22.1 billion manats) went unanswered because of those agreements.
It emerged that secret agreements signed by various government agencies played a significant role in planning the massive Hyperion data center in Louisiana. In Wharton County, Texas, a local official signed an agreement not directly with Amazon but with VisionFirst Advisors, a contractor working on the project. Amazon has not disclosed whether its new confidentiality policy also applies to such contractors. Garman called some claims about water and electricity consumption, diesel generators, jobs and the environment “misinformation and outright lies.” According to him, there are reports that foreign countries have deliberately spread misinformation to increase opposition to data centers in the US. Experts, however, say this claim, particularly regarding China, has been exaggerated and that there is little evidence confirming a broad campaign. Declining public support and concerns about AI safety are also fueling local opposition.
Under a plan called the “Data Center Commitment,” the company is pledging to invest $1 billion (approximately 1.7 billion manats) over the next 5 years in communities where its data centers are located. The money will fund free community college programs and vocational training. Work will also be carried out to improve energy efficiency in schools, homes and public buildings. Amazon also plans to prevent increases in local electricity rates and create new jobs. Amazon has also announced that it no longer uses nondisclosure agreements, or NDAs, with local authorities and government agencies. Such agreements restricted officials from telling the public how much energy and water a project would use or even which company was building the facility. The company’s head of legal affairs, David Zapolsky, called the previous confidentiality practice an old industry habit and said it was no longer needed. The number of states seeking to ban confidentiality agreements is also growing. Leaders in Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and Delaware have signed executive orders on the matter. Bans have also been discussed in New York, New Jersey, Indiana and Ohio. Members of both parties in Congress have introduced a bill called the “No Secrets for Data Centers Act.” Representative Jamie Raskin has requested information from Amazon, Google, Meta and Oracle about their NDAs. Confidentiality rules have caused problems in several projects. In Tucson, Arizona, local officials were unable to tell the public that Amazon was behind a controversial facility because of an NDA. The company later withdrew from the project. It has also been alleged that some questions about a campus in South Bend, Indiana, involving an investment of $13 billion (approximately 22.1 billion manats) went unanswered because of those agreements. It emerged that secret agreements signed by various government agencies played a significant role in planning the massive Hyperion data center in Louisiana. In Wharton County, Texas, a local official signed an agreement not directly with Amazon but with VisionFirst Advisors, a contractor working on the project. Amazon has not disclosed whether its new confidentiality policy also applies to such contractors. Garman called some claims about water and electricity consumption, diesel generators, jobs and the environment “misinformation and outright lies.” According to him, there are reports that foreign countries have deliberately spread misinformation to increase opposition to data centers in the US. Experts, however, say this claim, particularly regarding China, has been exaggerated and that there is little evidence confirming a broad campaign. Declining public support and concerns about AI safety are also fueling local opposition.