Amazon is sounding the alarm over mounting public pushback to data center development across the United States, warning that it could cost the nation ground in the global AI race.
In a more than 3,000-word blog post published on Friday, Amazon cloud chief Matt Garman argued that the “consequences would last generations” from a widespread halt to data center construction in the US.
“There is urgency to this data center buildout because we aren’t the only country that sees the benefits of AI for the economy and national security, and the countries that lead in AI will shape it and get the most from it in the short and long run,” the CEO of Amazon Web Services wrote.
He added, “The choices we make today will determine that outcome, and a lapse in our nation’s focus or resolve could put us behind, and potentially irreparably so.”
Garman said that more than 100 data center moratoriums are being considered across the country, and if the measures are enacted, the US “could be writing its own losing ticket to this race.”
“As a country, we can’t afford to find ourselves in that position,” wrote Garman.
The Amazon chief argued that the data center build-out “is so important geopolitically that there are widespread reports of various countries intentionally seeding misinformation in the US about data centers to trick us into slowing down.”
Garman opened his lengthy post by pointing to what he called “one of the big lessons” that the United States learned from World War II — “the need for national transportation back home.”
The construction of America’s modern transportation system “transformed the US economy and way of life,” Garman wrote, casting the current data center boom as its modern-day equivalent.
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“Seventy years later, we’re in the midst of the largest infrastructure buildout since the highways—our digital infrastructure,” Garman wrote.
Garman said data centers, which provide the computing capacity needed to run AI systems, already enable much of modern life, from shopping and banking to stock trading, travel booking, streaming entertainment, and the prevention and cure of disease.
“It’s still very early, yet AI is already transforming businesses, industries, and customer experiences in ways we couldn’t have imagined just a few years ago,” the executive wrote.
He continued, “AI will power the next generation of businesses, hospitals, schools, and other critical public services, as well as critical defense systems, intelligence analysis, cyber defense, and satellite operations—and new kinds of skilled jobs will be created to help make it all possible.”
Meanwhile, Garman’s post sought to rebut many of the common concerns raised by opponents of AI data center projects, such as water use, electricity demand, and pollution, while acknowledging that Amazon understands why there is “apprehension in some communities where data centers are being built.”
He also announced that Amazon will invest more than $1 billion over the next five years in the communities where it operates data centers.
“This is not Amazon deciding what communities need—it is Amazon providing resources and letting communities decide,” said Garman.