Technology
Amazon Drops NDAs in Data Center Push, Aims to Ease Community Fears
AWS chief Matt Garman says the company will no longer use nondisclosure agreements with government agencies on data center projects, as backlash over secrecy and environmental impact grows.
TechCrunch — AI
Amazon Web Services has pledged to abandon nondisclosure agreements when working with government agencies on data center approvals, according to CEO Matt Garman. The move comes as communities and environmental advocates increasingly push back against what they see as opaque development practices and unexamined ecological costs.
The Transparency Problem#
Secrecy has become a flashpoint in the data center wars. Environmental advocate Erin Brockovich has highlighted how the standard playbook involves developers securing permits before announcing projects to the public, leaving residents and local officials in the dark—or worse, bound by NDAs that prevent them from discussing the projects with neighbors. This pattern of concealment has fueled widespread distrust.
The backlash has real teeth: New York implemented a one-year moratorium on large data center permits, and over 100 similar moratoriums are being considered nationwide. Garman framed these restrictions as economically dangerous, warning that blocking data centers could cost the country in the global AI race.
Four Disputed Claims#
Garman's blog post attempted to counter what he calls major myths about data centers by presenting Amazon's own data:
-
Water usage: Direct data center consumption represents just 0.5% of U.S. industrial water use—less than golf courses or almond farming, according to Amazon's figures. However, scientists note this excludes water consumed in electricity generation and chip manufacturing, and argue for independent study given the lack of federal reporting standards.
-
Electricity costs: Garman cited states where power rates have fallen or grown slowly despite heavy data center presence. Yet a watchdog recently attributed a 76% price spike on America's largest electrical grid primarily to data centers.
-
Pollution: Garman stressed that backup generators rarely run—roughly 10 hours annually for maintenance. This sidesteps critics' focus on permitted emissions levels: a planned Amazon facility in Texas is authorized to release 33 million tons of CO₂ yearly, exceeding any other U.S. power plant. The NAACP is currently suing Elon Musk's xAI over similar pollution concerns from data center generators.
-
Community benefits: Beyond the NDA pledge, Amazon claims it has given over $1 billion to communities with major data center operations in the past three years.
