Amazon drops NDAs with governments over data centers
Original: Amazon responds to data center backlash, says it no longer uses NDAs
Why This Matters
U.S. data center expansion faces a regulatory wall that could reshape AI infrastructure timelines.
AWS CEO Matt Garman announced Amazon has stopped using NDAs with government agencies in data center approvals, amid over 100 active moratoriums on data centers being considered across the U.S.
AWS CEO Matt Garman published a blog post pushing back against the mounting backlash against data centers, revealing Amazon has dropped nondisclosure agreements with government agencies during the approvals process. NDAs have been a flashpoint in community opposition—environmental activist Erin Brockovich cited transparency as the top complaint, describing a pattern of permits secured before public announcement, unresponsive developers, and officials signing NDAs before neighbors knew anything was happening.
Garman warned that if current proposals are enacted, "the U.S. could be writing its own losing ticket to this race, and the consequences would last generations." New York has already announced a one-year moratorium on large data center permits, and Garman says more than 100 similar measures are under consideration nationwide.
His post also attempts to counter four common criticisms: water usage, electricity costs, pollution, and lack of community benefit. On water, he cited an Amazon report claiming direct data center consumption is just 0.5% of U.S. industrial water use. Critics note this figure ignores water consumed during electricity generation and chip manufacturing. On power prices, Garman blamed aging grid infrastructure rather than data center demand—though an independent watchdog recently attributed a 76% year-over-year price spike on America's largest electrical grid primarily to data centers.