SAN FRANCISCO – Amazon on Oct 2 pledged more than US$1 billion (S$1.3 billion) over five years for US communities that host its data centres, the latest tech giant seeking to win over residents increasingly hostile to the AI-fuelled construction boom.
The “Built Together” programme, unveiled by Amazon Web Services chief Matt Garman in a 3,000-word blog post, will fund free community college degrees and trades training as well as energy-efficiency upgrades for schools and homes.
The company also announced a “Data Centre Commitment,” promising that its facilities will not drive up local electricity bills and that it will publish annual figures on energy and water use.
Garman said AWS would stop using nondisclosure agreements with government agencies on its projects, a practice that has become a major flashpoint for the movement opposing data centres.
Microsoft made a similar move in March, the first major tech firm to do so.
Garman cast the buildout as a national security…
