AWS Pledges $1 Billion for Data Center Communities

Amazon Web Services on Friday pledged $1 billion over five years through its Built Together program for community colleges, trade training, energy-efficiency upgrades and other local priorities in U.S. communities that host its data centers, on top of more than $1 billion it says it invested there over the past three years. Amazon said its facilities will not raise local electricity bills, will publish annual energy and water use figures, and will stop using nondisclosure agreements with government agencies on its projects. The step came days after President Donald Trump hosted tech leaders including Jeff Bezos and said companies would work to make communities happy about data centers. AWS chief Matt Garman called the buildout urgent for economic and national security, warning that with more than 100 local moratoriums under consideration the United States “could be writing its own losing ticket” and “the consequences would last generations.” He disputed claims that data centers raise power costs, deplete water or cause diesel pollution and cited “widespread reports” of foreign-seeded misinformation. Disinformation researchers and fact-checkers say those claims overstate foreign influence in a grassroots movement. Trump said data centers will be “very popular” or go overseas and that rejecting communities could “end up being backwards and poor.” Microsoft, OpenAI and other firms have made parallel pledges on power costs, NDAs and related terms.