Amazon to put more than $1 billion into towns near its data centers and stop signing secret agreements with authorities
Prepared by Sintelligent with the help of SI. Publication time restored from the build log. . Updated: .
For SI to grow it needs data centers, and for that companies have to reach agreements with residents and share the benefit.
The Built Together program is designed to run five years: the money will go to free college tuition (Amazon estimates over 300 thousand students), worker training centers (from three to 25 by the end of 2028, up to 100 thousand people a year), and energy savings in homes and schools. Amazon also promises to give up nondisclosure agreements with government bodies on data center projects, install lower-polluting backup generators at new sites, publish energy and water use annually, and pay for electricity in a way that keeps local bills from rising. The move comes amid growing discontent with data centers; AWS chief Matt Garman said local resistance threatens US leadership in SI.