Amazon plans to invest more than $1 billion over the next five years in communities where it operates data centers, as the company responds to growing political and public concern over the rapid expansion of artificial-intelligence infrastructure.
The money will support education, workforce training, water and energy conservation projects and other local priorities in areas hosting large Amazon data center operations.
Matt Garman, chief executive of Amazon Web Services, said the company has already spent more than $1 billion in data center communities over the past three years.
Amazon is also changing how it works with local governments as scrutiny increases. Garman said the company is no longer using nondisclosure agreements with government agencies involved in data center projects and is holding open houses in communities where it operates.
The moves come as large technology companies accelerate construction of data centers needed to support artificial intelligence and cloud-computing workloads.
The scale of those projects has triggered resistance in some communities over electricity demand, water use, property development and potential effects on utility rates. More than 100 data center moratoriums are being considered around the country, according to Garman.
He warned that restrictions on new development could weaken the U.S. position in the global race to build artificial-intelligence infrastructure.
“There is urgency to this data center build out because we aren’t the only country that sees the benefits of AI for the economy and national security,” Garman wrote.
Data centers have existed for decades, but the artificial-intelligence boom has sharply increased both their size and energy requirements. Some newer facilities consume electricity on a scale comparable with small cities.
Amazon said in July that it expects capital spending to reach about $220 billion in 2026, up from an earlier estimate of $200 billion. Much of that spending is expected to go toward data centers and other technology infrastructure.
The expansion has received support from President Donald Trump, who has encouraged additional data center construction as part of a broader push to expand U.S. artificial-intelligence capacity.
Public opinion has been more cautious. About six in 10 Americans support limiting the number of new data centers that can be built, with concerns cutting across party lines.
Amazon’s new community investment program represents an effort to address some of those concerns while continuing one of the largest infrastructure buildouts in the technology industry.