Amazon Drops Secrecy Agreements For Data Centers In Exchange For More Server Farms

CALIFORNIA — Amazon announced Friday that the tech giant will stop using nondisclosure agreements with government agencies to hush public information about data center projects in exchange for more than $1 billion in communities hosting its server farms.

Amazon Web Services CEO Matt Garman announced the changes in a company post defending data center expansion.

Instead of using secret non-disclosure agreements — NDAs — to keep agreements with public offiicals secret, the Amazon's “Built Together” program will give money to communities that allow data centers.

Garman said the money would go to community college access, workforce training, energy efficiency upgrades, and local priorities.

Amazon estimates it will connect more than 300,000 students to free degree access over five years by covering costs remaining after financial aid.

The program would also target efficiency upgrades for more than 30,000 homes and 300 schools and community buildings.

Artificial intelligence requires large-scale infrastructure. Data centers house servers, storage systems, and networking equipment, as well as electricity, cooling systems, and high-speed networks.

As demand grows, companies are expanding facilities and the infrastructure that supports them, according to the International Energy Agency.

Garman said that proposed moratoriums on data centers could undermine U.S. leadership in artificial intelligence.

Instead, Amazon pledged annual public reporting on energy consumption, water use, efficiency, and carbon-free energy.

The company will cover power and infrastructure costs associated with its facilities and sharing project plans as early as possible, according to the post.

Garman did not say whether Amazon terminated existing NDAs.

Secret Agreements

Amazon's announcement follows other tech giants move to reveal the used of NDAs that muzzle public officials and prevent scrutiny, instead offering the promise of money to municipalities that approve data centers.

In January, Microsoft announced a "Community-First AI Infrastructure Plan" outlining what the company called commitments to the communities where the tech giant operates or is seeking to operate data centers.

Data center developers’ secrecy agreements with public officials triggered a congressional inquiry.

Rep. Jamie Raskin, the ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, launched an investigation Sept. 30 into Amazon, Google, Meta, and Oracle.

He requested confidentiality agreements with public officials, projected electricity and water consumption, and explanations of whether the companies had used the agreements to block public records requests.

The inquiry focuses on whether nondisclosure agreements prevent residents from evaluating projects’ costs, taxpayer-funded incentives, and potential effects on local resources.

Raskin’s office cited a secrecy agreement Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry signed with a Meta subsidiary connected to a $50 billion data center campus.

According to the office, the agreement prevented disclosure of proposed terms and pricing involving taxpayer money.

The secrecy agreements prevent citizen input and oversight despite the use of tax dollars used by public officials to attract server farms developers and pay for infrastructure.

Garman did not specific whether Amazon had or will be terminating NDA agreements with public officials.

Other developers including Microsoft has said it is identifying active agreements worldwide and working with local governments to terminate them.

The company acknowledges that it previously used NDAs during early development to protect sensitive commercial information and address security considerations.

Microsoft says it will still seek legal protection from records disclosure for certain trade secrets and competitively sensitive information, including detailed facility designs and security controls. It will address questions about existing records individually.

In Boyce, Louisiana, confidential negotiations fueled residents’ frustration over Applied Digital’s planned 300-acre campus, NPR reported in August.

Officials negotiated under agreements bearing the code names “Project Lightning” and “Project Pixel.” State senators, the parish assessor, and members of the development board signed NDAs.

At a town hall, officials and company representatives said an environmental study found negligible effects. They declined to release the study, drawing objections from residents.

The debate has also reached San Jose, where about 20 data centers are in operation.

San José Spotlight reported in September that a City Council committee directed staff to develop a policy allowing officials to review proprietary information without signing NDAs.

Councilmember Peter Ortiz described the proposal as a preventive measure and said he was unaware of current council members signing data center NDAs.

The proposal would preserve legal protections for trade secrets while addressing restrictions on what officials can tell the public.