Amazon Web Services pledges over $1 billion for US data center communities

Amazon's cloud computing division, Amazon Web Services (AWS), said on Friday 2 October that it would invest more than $1 billion over the next five years in US communities where it has data centers. 1 Newsweek described it as a $1 billion investment framework and gave the program's name as "Built Together". 2 AWS said the spending would cover education, job training, energy affordability, water and energy preservation and other local priorities. 1

AWS CEO Matt Garman said communities would be "in the driver's seat" in deciding what is most useful to them, and that the money adds to what Amazon is already doing. 2 Data centers, which provide the computing power to train and run AI models, have drawn opposition in communities nationwide over electricity demand, utility costs and other local impacts; Newsweek also cites residents and lawmakers raising water use, environmental impacts and proximity to homes. 1 2 CNA, in the report it carried, said the backlash poses a political challenge for Republicans heading into the US midterm elections on 3 November. 1

In a lengthy statement, Amazon sought to rebut criticism tied to environmental, energy and economic impacts, and noted that more than 100 data center moratoriums were being considered across the country. 1 Garman argued there is urgency to the buildout because other countries also see AI's benefits for the economy and national security, and the countries that lead in AI will shape it. 1 Amazon said it invested $276 billion in data centers between 2011 and 2025, with large projects or expansions under way in states including Indiana, Louisiana, North Carolina, Virginia and Mississippi. 1

AWS also committed to being water positive across its data centers by 2030, returning more water to communities than it uses, and said it was 75 per cent of the way toward that goal. 1 Newsweek said it had contacted Amazon for further comment and described the story as developing. 2