Amazon drops NDAs in data center talks with governments
Original: Can the AI industry persuade data center opponents by getting rid of NDAs?
Why This Matters
Transparency in siting deals could shape whether future data center buildouts face sustained local resistance.
Amazon announced it will stop using NDAs when negotiating data center deals with local governments, following Microsoft's lead, as the AI industry faces growing community backlash and local moratoriums.
Amazon quietly buried a significant policy shift inside a blog post arguing that data centers benefit local communities: the company will no longer use nondisclosure agreements when negotiating with local governments over data center projects. Microsoft had already made the same move.
The TechCrunch Equity podcast team broke down what this means. Reporter Sean O'Kane argued the NDA habit sits at the root of the industry's public trust problem — deals negotiated in secret, sometimes without locals even knowing which company will occupy a facility. He drew a direct line to Uber's mid-2010s expansion playbook, when the ride-hail company negotiated tax subsidies with city governments behind closed doors.
"The industry just does a really poor job explaining itself," O'Kane said, "and they are obviously and constantly frustrated that most people can't envision a world in which this stuff is useful for them."
Rebecca Bellan was skeptical the recent wave of local data center moratoriums signals a lasting shift, noting that most last only one to two years while new data centers take three to five years to come online. Co-host Anthony Ha pushed back, arguing that the industry's visible anxiety about the backlash — the blog posts, the NDA concessions — suggests it's taking the opposition seriously.
Community concerns center on property values, electricity rates, and local water consumption.