Amazon Web Services CEO Matt Garman urged communities to embrace data centers in a 3,000-word blog post, warning that construction restrictions could cost the United States the AI race.. A Wall Street Journal poll released this week found that 62 percent of Americans supported pausing AI data-center construction.
Of those supporting a pause, 40 percent said it was a top priority.. Garman wrote that more than 100 data-center moratoriums were under consideration across the country. He said the United States “can’t afford to lose” the AI race..
“If these measures are enacted, the US could be writing its own losing ticket to this race, and the consequences would last generations,” he wrote.. Garman compared data-center development with the United States’ construction of its national highway system after World War II..
“Just like the national highway system, our country’s economy, national security, and everyday lives stand to benefit immensely,” he wrote.. He accused the media of spreading “misinformation and outright lies” about data centers, saying that “in the age of social media and 24/7 news, myths take hold faster than ever before.”.
Garman also alleged that U.S. adversaries were “intentionally seeding misinformation in the US about data centers to trick us into slowing down.”. The post sought to dispute concerns about data centers increasing electricity prices and producing pollution. Garman described electricity-cost concerns as “misleading and convenient scapegoating,” although rising energy prices are pushing up power bills..
Earlier this year, Axios reported that Amazon’s AI expansion had driven an unprecedented increase in the company’s emissions. Amazon has pledged to achieve a net-zero carbon footprint by 2040.. Garman said it was “untrue” that data centers produce large amounts of carbon emissions through backup diesel generators.
In Texas, dozens of AI data-center facilities use environmentally harmful generators through regulatory loopholes.. Leaked internal Amazon documents last year showed executives discussing how to keep the public unaware of the “true extent” of their data centers’ water use.. Garman also wrote that “thousands of construction jobs are created to build data centers.” Most of those construction jobs disappear once the facilities are completed..
He ended the blog post by announcing the establishment of a new community program called “Built Together.”. Featured image credit. Tags: amazonawsdata centersMatt Garman
