AWS says it has stopped using NDAs with government agencies as data center backlash widens

Garman disclosed the change in a single line inside a longer blog post that argued data centers deliver a net benefit to the communities that host them, pushing back against what he described as broad public suspicion of the facilities.

Transparency has become the sharpest point of contention. Environmental activist Erin Brockovich has said the complaint she hears most often about data centers is the lack of openness, describing a recurring pattern in which projects are announced only after permits are secured, developers do not return calls, and local officials sign NDAs before neighbors know a project is under consideration.

The resistance has already produced policy. New York announced a one-year moratorium on permits for large data centers, and Garman said more than 100 data center moratoriums are currently being weighed across the United States.

Garman warned that such measures would carry long-term consequences. "If these measures are enacted, the U.S. could be writing its own losing ticket to this race, and the consequences would last generations," he wrote, adding that the country cannot afford to find itself in that position.

The executive's post marks an attempt by Amazon's cloud arm to reframe the debate as it pursues approvals for additional capacity.