Amazon vows $1 bn for data center towns, decries ‘myths’

The “Built Together” program, 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 Center 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 centers.

Microsoft made a similar move in March, the first major tech firm to do so.

Garman cast the buildout as a national security imperative on par with the 1950s interstate highway system.

He warned that with more than 100 local moratoriums under consideration nationwide, the United States “could be writing its own losing ticket” in the AI race…